A quiet Monday afternoon near the Carson-Newman University campus in Jefferson City, Tennessee, turned into a rescue scene this week when a college junior spotted a 3-year-old boy clinging to a submerged tree branch in a fast-moving creek. Noah Mathews didn’t hesitate. He lowered himself into the current and pulled the child to safety, then called campus security and sat with him on a bench, playing cartoons on his phone until police arrived.
Investigators later learned the boy has autism and had wandered away from home. Jefferson City Police credited Mathews’ quick thinking with preventing a possible drowning, and officers were able to check the child out and return him to his mother. Mathews told reporters his first thought was simply getting the boy out of the water before he was swept downstream.
For those of us here on the Suncoast, this story lands close to home. We’re surrounded by water, from neighborhood canals to the Gulf, and it only takes seconds for a child to slip away and find trouble. This is a good reminder to secure fences and doors, teach kids about water danger early, and know that wandering is a real risk for children with autism. Have you talked with your family about water safety lately?
