LEBANON, Tenn. (WTVF) — A three-year-old girl is alive after a harrowing rescue. She had wandered off and fallen into a quarry full of water.
There was a frantic search and with just seconds to spare, and a hero stepped in to save her from drowning.
This would be a horrible scenario for any parent.
A young child manages to escape a baby gate, unlock the front door and disappears with a flooded quarry nearby.
Parents and neighbors frantically searched the area -- including parts of the quarry.
That's when Kevin Wolverton Sr. stopped as he left work at nearby Wilson County Chevrolet in Lebanon and decided he'd take a closer look at the quarry.
"When I come down I walked through here and on the other side of those rocks there she was floating on her side. I went in and got her to flat rocks and laid her down and did CPR and rolled her on her side and patted her on the back," said Kevin.
At that moment, there on the edge of the quarry, the 3-year-old coughed up water and started breathing again.
Kevin then walked her up to paramedics who had arrived.
"All I could think when I saw her in his arms on the ramp at the quarry, heard her whimpering and just thank God," said John Hall.
He added his daughter Lilly is going to be just fine. And a day later his family wanted to thank Wolverton.
"Hi, Ms. Lilly. Glad to see you under better circumstances," said Kevin.
"This right here is our first chance to officially thank him right here for saving our little girl's life," said Hall.
"You're emotional...just to hear her is the most awesome thing to hear," said Kevin..
Emily Hardin, a witness said, "I think Kevin is a hero — all-round hero. He saved her whole life."
As you might expect Kevin doesn't consider himself a hero. He's a grandfather of young children and knew he had to help in the search.
Good thing — he saved Lilly from drowning in this quarry.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at nick.beres@newschannel5.com
I LOVE Forrest's stories on the history of NewsChannel 5 as we celebrate our 70th anniversary. Here's a story I wasn't familiar with until recently. Eudora Boxley had a live cooking show in the early days of the station. She may have been the first black on air at NewsChannel 5 and perhaps, one of the first African Americans to have a TV cooking show anywhere in the country. It wasn't until her grandson reached out to me that I even heard of Ms. Boxley. Thankfully, I was able to connect him with Forest to learn more about this great nugget in NewsChannel 5 history.
-Lelan Statom
