Not sure how to word this. I guess maybe I'm blessed or maybe simply thank God for his protecting Angels. Gordon, my just turned two yr old, and I collected firewood then went to ponds to check oxygen levels and feeders. He was helping beside me for 10 mins or more.  I went down to pond 4 and Gordon grabbed a fishing rod sitting by pond far end of pond 2 60 yards away. I yelled get back baby when close to edge. I finished setting feeder and When I turned back around he was gone. I ran toward pond and my worst fear was revealed he had fallen in 44 degree water. No sound no splash just him flapping in the water.  It being so cold he had on big parka and it acted like a life jacket until I jumped in to grab him. I'm almost I'm tears now,even though it happened 7 hours ago, just thinking what might have been. He was screaming and his body was limp i threw Gordon in the truck stripped him down by the fire then in hot tub with mommy and he was fine in a few minutes. Thank you Lord for protecting my baby.  I pray I learned my lesson to not stray away from him. He Is such a gift from God. Thanks for letting me share,it helps. Ok gotta go Wyatt and I hope a deer comes in this field before dark. 

Greg
Thank the lord it turned out well. That will make you hug him even tighter every night. Children are everything. Merry Christmas. God is great

Not going to go easy on you on this one Greg.

Stop the dang work and take care of the kids. The work can wait.

Glad you know that now. A lesson learned without real harm - other than your nerves. Let's just hope you don't have nightmares.

Thank you Lord for watching over the Grimes family !!!

Greg glad everything turned out good and thanks for sharing your story. It is a good reminder for us as well. Have a merry christmas and enjoy the time with your family!

Greg, thanks for telling us, and I'm glad that everything turned out O.K.

I'm with Eric.

I think Christmas will be a little more special at your house this year!

Your 2 year old is 60 yards away by himself next to 44 degree water. What are you thinking, man?

We lost a 2 year old cousin down in Tennessee 15 years ago the exact same way...his heart is still beating today though just in another little boy....

Greg I can only imagine how good yet fragile you feel!!!

Greg, I am very glad this was just a scare and everything turned out alright with Gordon.

It sounds like he didn't fall in face first, if he had the mammalian diving reflex would have likely kicked in, he just would have went motionless face down in the water. That will give you a fright. We had this happen once when some friends of my folks were out with their little boy, he fell off the dock and his face hit the water, he instantly went motionless face down in the water and looked unconcious. I was there on the dock and pulled him out, it scared both of us pretty good. I am not sure where it's at but somehwere there is a crayon drawing of "Steve saving Joel".

Every pond owner should be aware of the mammalian dive reflex and young children, it can be a recipe for drowning if no one is near.

Greg, so glad everything is ok. I know you feel bad about this, but just thank God for His mercy.

Greg,

I'm glad he's O.K. I felt your pain in the post and it brought tears to my eyes.

A wake up call!

Thanks everyone. I copied that from a FB post. I posted it hear so everyone is aware how quick it can happen. I realize a major fault I had being that far away. My lesson could have been devasting. Yes indeed I feel even more special now going into Christmas to have two miracles from God. I will do a better job of protecting them.

You saved him, Greg.

Dad WAS there.

This. We've all had our close calls and lessons with our children. Greg, you were kind enough to post this experience for others to learn from. I am extremely grateful it had a happy ending and equally grateful for the message.

Greg, I feel your remorse. Goofing around with my son, I accidentally rolled upon his wrist and broke it a few years ago. I felt terrible. I was proud that he didn't cry, just winced and told me to get off, and showed off his cast like a badge. But the guilt of the mistake I made has stayed with me. At the same time, I'm not covering him in bubble wrap. It was a close call with your boy, no doubt. I'm sure you're traumatized. You'll learn from it, I'm sure. But I appreciate the experiences (excluding this one) that you're giving your boy. It's rare. My son's friends are awestruck at the outdoors we expose them to and, while it makes me feel good to help them experience this, it pains me to think there are too many kids who will not. I am thrilled to know there's a kid out there that is experiencing the outdoors the way yours is.

Greg, I know you know this potentially more than any of us now, that this could have ended very differently. And Lord knows, you would've heard it from the rest of us dads. I am beyond relieved that it was only a lesson learned and not something more devastating. God was with you in this instance. I imagine He'll expect you to make His job more easier next time.

When little kids go to the water the adults have to stop what they are doing and pay attention - it is their time not yours. No exceptions ! If they are going to fish then you don't.

Greg:

Mom took me to the "Y" about the time I started to walk to teach me to swim. Dad never learned, and almost drowned when he was a kid. I don't think teaching your kids to swim will be an issue, but I thought I'd throw that out there.

I could relate a couple of stories about going swimming thru the ice when I was younger during trapping season, and there was one time that I would have been dead. That one time that I didn't go thru, but I seriously doubt that my body would have been found for months, if at all, if I hadn't stopped and turned around. Mom & Dad wouldn't have even known where to start looking.

I just hope that this experience doesn't leave him with a fear of the water.

You were there to save him, and while it was a terrible lesson, I'll bet it was a lesson learned that you won't ever forget. I'm sure that you will be sharing it with some clients in the future, and I'd lay money on it saving another kids life or multiple kids at some point in the future.

Thanks. What is bad is when Wyatt was little my biggest nightmare was him falling in the ponds. He is a great swimmer due to multiple lessons
I got complacent and no excuse for that. Gordon loves the water and will have no issue. Just so glad I learned a lesson without any harm. Truly thank God for that. Hope your right about helping others learn from my mistake.

I know exactly how you feel. Exactly. Typing this brings it all back.

When my daughter was 3 we were on the dock in the spring. My dock is 32 feet long and I was unhooking a trout near shore on the dock and my wife was sitting on the couch near shore. My daughter was at the end of the dock and fell in. My wife screamed and all I could tell was that my daughter was gone...just a splash then nothing. From the dock you could not see her at all (top of dock is about 1 foot above water). I just ran and blindly jumped off the end - I started to see my daughter in the water as I flew through the air - face an inch under the water, bubbles coming out of her nose, eyes-wide open looking up with her white ball gown flowing in the water.

She still claims she saw a starfish down there.

I don't know if she would have floated/swam for a bit or not. I do know that this was the scariest thing to happen to me as a Dad.

I was on the same dock as her and this was still a very close call. Lesson learned and I hope everyone reading this learns to stay close when the children are young. These incidents are accidents - and you need to be prepared.

My daughter has since taken swimming lessons twice a year. She's five now and is a much safer swimmer now, but I still stay within a half-dock of her now.

Very glad that your incident turned-out well Greg. Stay close to the little ones and enjoy every minute with them.

v glad these stories ended well...too often there isn't a second chance
Inspired by the above Jorge VA story (and this is more a pre-emptive safety measure when you can't be there to monitor), Ewest helped engineer this little side project Here, some 4+ years later, it has weathered quite a bit but still functions just fine. I had to run in some stainless steel screws to snug up the pickets, but past that, the design works.

I have seen that concept save lives in more places than ponds. B'Ski I still like that dock set-up.