Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
MILFORD - Tragedy was averted Wednesday afternoon when a 3-year-old boy was pulled unconscious from Waubee Lake.
Matt Binns of North Webster is credited with saving the life of Breylon Estes of Elkhart. According to Milford Town Marshal Dave Hobbs, Estes was with his mother and other family members at the Milford/Waubee Beach Tuesday afternoon when the incident occurred.
The child's mother, Stacy Estes, told Hobbs that she is trained in CPR, but didn't think quickly enough to react. Hobbs said Estes gives Binns - a 2000 Wawasee High School graduate - full credit for saving her son's life. "Within seconds, the lifeguard was there and took over the situation," Hobbs said. "It sounds like he did a good job."
Breylon Estes was reportedly playing in about 2 feet of water, approximately 15 feet from shore, and was putting his face into the water when Mrs. Estes' sister noticed the boy was floating limply. At about the same time, Binns saw there was a problem with the child and took the boy onto the beach.
The child was limp and not breathing when he was pulled from the water, Hobbs said, and "had apparently drowned."
Once on shore, Binns cleared Estes' airway, hit him on the back and got him breathing again, Hobbs said. By the time Milford Emergency Medical Service crews arrived on the scene, the child was talking and alert, Hobbs said. Estes was then transported to Goshen General Hospital, where he was treated and released.
After talking with the child, Hobbs said it is believed that he fell while playing in the water and "probably sucked in a bunch of water" as his face hit the lake.
