TAHLEQUAH, Okla. -- A moment of pure terror after a 4-year-old child falls into the family swimming pool, unable to swim.
It was a moment his mother said made her heart stop. But thanks to a small hero, the child is OK.
It was a nightmare that became a reality for the Swafford family in Tahlequah. A pool that was meant for family fun, quickly became an almost death trap.
That is until someone decided to take matters into their own hands.
J.J. Swafford fears nothing. At four years old, his life is pretty busy.
"[I] swim, eat, drink and play in the house," J.J. said.
But his summer fun was almost cut short, when he pushed his ambition a little too far.
"I got on the deck and I got on the ladder and was swinging... and I fall[ed] into the water and I sink," J.J. said.
Unfortunately he can't swim.
"Not without a life jacket," he said.
J.J's mom heard the splash, and watched in terror, unable to get to her backyard as she stood on the other side of a fence.
"He's going to drown, and I couldn't get to him," Keisha Swafford, J.J.'s mother said.
Before she could rush through the house, a tiny hero jumped into action.
"I don't like to waste time," Christopher Perry, J.J's 9-year-old brother said.
Christopher realized the horror as his little brother gasped for air.
"He would've probably been out of breath," Christopher said. "Just fell and stayed at the bottom."
Christopher jumped the fence to the backyard and made a heroic rescue.
"He was coughing a little but then he just started to like to cry," Christopher said.
Saved by his big brother, J.J.'s mother was in awe, knowing without his quick thinking things may have ended differently.
"When your kids are awake you need to stay within feet of them, because it can happen in a second," Keisha said.
The Swafford's now hoping their scare, will be a warning to others.
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