(Memphis) Everyone wants to be a hero, but not everyone can be.
However, one Lakeland girl earned the title early in life because people are calling 10-year-old Sydney Gordin a hero after she rescued a 5-year-old boy in the lake.
It’s easy to see why Clint Vice’s boat is the most popular in the neighborhood.
“Play, swim, slide, jump,” said Vice.
“It’s like a kid`s dream come true,” said reporter Sabrina Hall.
“Right. And mine too,” he laughed.
But Saturday, sliding and trampoline-jumping almost ended with tears.
“I was about to get on the big slide when I saw him under the water,” said Sydney Gordin.
“I was amazed at how brave she was,” said Vice.
She’s a neighborhood kid who didn’t flinch when a young boy needed some help.
“I screamed for help. She jumped straight in the water and grabbed him and started to try and swim him back to the ladder,” said Vice.
It was Vice’s 5-year-old nephew, visiting from Oklahoma, who got into trouble.
“He doesn’t know how to swim,” Vice said. “Three days before he got here he was deathly afraid of swimming in the water.”
But with a life jacket, Dalton Vice warmed up to the lake.
“Having a blast,” said Vice.
But Clint says when the boy got out of the water and onto the boat to use the toilet on-board, he took off his life jacket and forgot to put it back on. He jumped right back in the water
“He ran and jumped off the stairs with no jacket,” said Vice.
“He was trying to swim up,” said Sydney.
Sydney was the closest to him
“He was flailing, panicked,” said Vice.
She jumped in.
“I grabbed him by his arms and I pulled him up,” said Sydney. “He was coughing a little bit but he was mostly crying.”
Crying, but alive.
“Because she didn’t hesitate,” said Vice.
Sydney knew she had what it took.
“Kids aren’t helpless,” said Vice. “You don`t have to wait for a parent to react.”
She helped finish off that Saturday on the lake…right.
“We had fun. We actually played on that big slide and that slide right there,” said Sydney.
“Did he play too?” asked Hall.
“Yes.”
“So, he went back in the water after that?” asked Hall.
“He remembered to put his life jacket on though,” said Sydney.