Deanna Tapia and her 7 1/2-year-old son, Israel "Alex" Tapia, both of Spencer, were among a group of people enjoying the day in the Clay County park's 15-acre pond. Israel Tapia, a beginning swimmer, recently completed his second year of swimming lessons: He can doggy paddle for a short time, bob up and down in the water and front float.

"He knows his limits. If water gets up to his chest, he knows he doesn't go any further," explained Deanna Tapia.

Along with a group of children his age, Israel Tapia was practicing the swimming moves he'd learned around an inflatable raft adult Janelle Loring was situated on Sunday when he noticed a blue raft floating by itself on the pond. When asked by the 7 1/2-year-old boy if they should corral the raft and bring it in, Loring, a non-swimmer, replied, "No, because I don't know how deep it is there."

Before long, Israel Tapia spotted a young swimmer in distress and yelled, "He's drowning. The boy over there is drowning, Mommy."

In response to her son's alert, Deanna Tapia dashed into the water, pulled the young boy out,

brought him to shore and located his parents and toddler-aged brother.

"The water there was probably 5 foot because it came up to my neck," she said. "...He was worn out. I don't think he'd quite swallowed any water yet, because when I saw him, he was bobbing up and down. When I dashed into the water, he had just gone under. So I think he was just able to hold his breath for a little bit, which is what got him from not swallowing any water. But when I popped him out of the water, he instantly started to cry."

Tapia noted it's in her nature as a nursing assistant to help others; but she also stated it was her son who drew attention to the situation needing to be addressed.

When the boy's family, who was on a paddle boat not far from shore, landed, Deanna Tapia handed them their son, whom she believes to be around her son's age. During the Tapias visit with the family, in which they recounted the near disaster, Israel Tapia was thanked by both of the boy's parents and his younger brother.

"When it was all said and done," Deanna Tapia recounted, "the kids didn't go into the water for awhile. I think they were kind of scared. You know when something happens and you don't think it's ever going to happen to you?

"When the kids came and sat on the blanket for a while, we had a little talk with them. They were told, 'See what can happen? It could happen to anybody. Even though you don't think it's going to happen to you, it can happen to anybody anywhere -- whether an adult is around or not.'"