Faith Tiller admitted she had a few moments of terror when she saw her 13-year-old son, Danny, jump off a cliff and swim through deep water to rescue a semi-conscious man from drowning.
Faith Tiller admitted she had a few moments of terror when she saw her 13-year-old son, Danny, jump off a cliff and swim through deep water to rescue a semi-conscious man from drowning.
“Initially, I was worried. The man was not quite unconscious. I was afraid he would (struggle and) drag Danny down with him,” she said in a recent interview.
Although the popular Hippie Hole at Little River Canyon in Alabama is usually calm, a recent hurricane had dumped a lot of rain into the area and the water was high and strong over Labor Day weekend, Faith said.
But she realized Danny, who was nearest to the struggling man, had to act quickly because a rapids and waterfall were down river and no one could have saved him if he got that far, she said.
“The river was moving really fast. If (Danny had) waited for an adult, nobody would have gotten him,” she added.
The family, who lives in Claridon Woods Estates in Claridon Township, was visiting Faith’s in-laws in Tennessee and went to their favorite swimming hole, she said.
“While we were discussing whether or not it was safe to swim, our cousins jumped off the cliff into the current and Danny’s brother, Ryan, followed,” Faith said. “Danny jumped behind him. Danny later stated he wasn’t going to jump, but he was worried about Ryan.”
After her sons jumped in and got to the other side, a 20-year-old man jumped off the 20-foot cliff and began to struggle when he hit the current in the middle of the river, she said.
“Danny noticed, heard him call for help and quickly jumped back into the river in the current. By the time Danny swam halfway across the river and made it over to him, he became unconscious. Danny pulled him up out of the water, through the current, around a large boulder, and with Ryan’s help, pulled him to the rocky bank. He was unconscious and not breathing,” Faith said. “Danny checked for a pulse and began CPR. I later found out he learned CPR from movies and media.”
Faith and her husband, George Tiller, jumped into the river at this point to help, she said, adding despite being a good swimmer, she had to rest on her back for a few lengths, feeling the undertow might pull her down.
“As we reached the bank, Danny had revived (the man) and he was struggling to take a breath,” Faith said.
Danny, who is 5’10” and competes on the Berkshire Schools wrestling team, got an arm around the man’s chest and shoulder to tow him to shore.
“Once I had swam the man to shore, my cousin and younger brother helped me pull him onto a rock,” Danny said. “I didn’t ever really learn CPR, but my mother is a nurse and I sort of just picked it up.”
He performed chest compressions to the rhythm of the Bee Gees’ song “Stayin’ Alive,” as recommended on Youtube, until the man started breathing, he said.
The eighth-grader, who has been wrestling for about seven years, said his father taught him how to swim and he goes to the Geauga Family YMCA to swim occasionally, but he never had any lifesaving lessons.
Faith said her son was very calm and talked to the emergency medical team when they arrived before they had to haul the man up the mountain. She told the story to the school and it appeared in the school newsletter when the family returned from vacation.
“His father and I are so proud. Danny has tried to quiet my overflowing pride,” Faith said. “We owe some of that credit to Berkshire athletics.”
Danny may not be keen on the accolades, but he is glad he was in a position to help save a life.
“I don’t mind being called a hero, it’s just that I’m kind of a withdrawn/introverted type of person,” he said. “I would absolutely do the same thing again.”