Water safety is a hot topic at this time of year. But thanks to some quick moves by a little kid in Kentucky last week, what could have been a disaster is instead a good-news story.
A boy called Connor Musk saw a four-year-old jump into a swimming pool without any flotation device, and promptly sink to the bottom. Connor knew the right thing to do. He’d watched his dad train as an underwater rescue diver. He instantly went in after the smaller boy, pulled him to the pool ladder and called for help.
What’s cool about Connor is that by performing this lifesaving deed, he turned one or two expectations on their heads. Connor has a form of autism called Asperger syndrome. He’s not great with communication and eye contact. Even his own dad admits he’d have expected Connor’s disability to hold him back, cause him to freeze up, in an emergency situation like this one.
Didn’t happen. Connor later told a reporter that he wasn’t scared, and felt good about saving the boy. (Want to read about another good-deed-doer with a disability? Check out the story I posted about Larry Skopnik, thwarter of petty criminals, in February.)
Do you have to fit society’s definition of “average” to make a difference? Nope. In fact, I suspect being average only gets in the way. Way to go, Connor of Kentucky.
50 Good Deeds 