Posted on 02/19/2004 7:18:50 PM PST by MaryFromMichigan
DECATUR BOY RESCUES LITTLE SISTER
Thursday, February 19, 2004
cmccool@kalamazoogazette.com 388-8575
DECATUR -- The ground opened up and swallowed his little sister, and Vaughn Copeland jumped in after her.
Some people grow old wondering whether they'd make the right split-second decision in a crisis. At the age of 7, Vaughn proved himself a hero. He saved his little sister's life Monday.
The siblings were playing outside in the family's back yard Monday night when an abandoned septic tank suddenly collapsed beneath Alexanna Copeland. The 4-year-old girl fell into a cavity filled with water well over her head.
"She knows how to swim, but not without a (life preserver) jacket," Vaughn said. "I jumped in to save her."
Thomas and Marcie Copeland and their two children moved into the small ranch home just inside the village limits three years ago, Thomas Copeland said. The neighborhood has been hooked up to public utilities since 1971, according to city officials, and the Copelands had no idea there was an old septic tank just feet from their back porch until it apparently caved in Monday.
The hole that swallowed Alexanna was not large -- barely big enough for an adult, plenty wide enough for a thin 4-year-old girl. A foot or two down, it opened up into a larger cavity, about six feet deep, with nearly four feet of standing, sludgy, brown water.
Vaughn peered in and saw his sister's head go under, so he jumped in, grabbed the front of her coat and lifted her up the best he could. The water, he said, was just under his chin.
"It was really, really cold," he said. "I started screaming for help."
Thomas Copeland said both he and Marcie were inside when they heard their childrens' cries. They ran outside, but
didn't see anything until they spotted Vaughn's mitten poking mysteriously out of the ground. Copeland hauled his kids up out of the hole and into a hot shower.
"If it wasn't for him, she'd be gone," he said. "It was really lucky he was out here with her."
Alexanna swallowed a little water, but is otherwise fine, her father said. The Van Buren County Health Department is going to test the water from the hole, and the Copelands will follow up with their doctor, he said.
Dale Avery, who heads the village's Public Works Department, said the old septic tank was probably built when the house was constructed at least 45 years ago. Many of the homes in the neighborhood probably have old septic systems still in the ground, he said.
"This one here could have been an old metal one," Avery said. "When contractors hooked up (to the sewer), they would normally cut and cap the lines -- they didn't necessarily fill them (the tanks) in."
"It was really, really cold," he said. "I started screaming for help."
This seven year old is one gutsy kid.
G-d bless you Vaughn. G-d make his face to shine on you and give you peace.
This little boy won't have to wonder if he's made of hero stuff.
He proved that at an early age.
May God bless this little boy, and thank you, God, for Your guiding hand.
Don't you just love contractors. I know I do. /sar
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