Hoover Rec Center lifeguards honored for rescuing two swimmers
Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato and the Hoover City Council tonight honored two lifeguards at the Hoover Recreation Center for rescuing two people in the Rec Center pool last week.
April Fitten and Taylor Davis both were working at the pool on Wednesday night of last week when a man and his young son got in trouble in the water.
The man and his son, whom the lifeguards said was about 4 years old, were in the open swim area of the pool, going back and forth from the 3-foot-deep end of the pool to the 5-foot-deep end, Brocato said.
Fitten noticed the man and young boy, neither of whom knew how to swim, suddenly submerge underwater as the man stepped out from the shallow end of the pool into the deep end, the mayor said.
“April acted quickly, ran to the pool, jumped in and swam about 13 feet to the member and rescued him while submerged underwater,” Brocato said.
The man’s older son, whom the lifeguards said was about 9 years old, came from the deep end of the pool where he was swimming and grabbed his brother, Brocato said. They began to have trouble in the water as well, and Davis assisted them in getting to safety.
“We owe them a great deal of gratitude,” Brocato said. “You were on guard, you knew what to do and you saved two lives, and we certainly are grateful for that.”
A lot of police officers and firefighters go 40 years and never have an opportunity to rescue somebody, he said.
The mayor and council also tonight recognized two men who participate in the city’s therapeutic recreation program and took part in the National Special Olympics in Seattle this July.
Wyman Freeman, a Hoover resident who graduated from Hoover High in 2003 and has participated in the Special Olympics since he was 8 years old, won three gold medals in the Alabama Special Olympics last year and two silver medals at the National Special Olympics in July as part of Alabama’s swim team. His silver medals were in the 100-meter backstroke and 4x25 relay.
Graham Dawson, a Homewood resident who has participated in Hoover’s therapeutic recreation program and its competitive swim team for more than 17 years, also swam three events at the National Special Olympics and won a silver medal in the 4x25 relay and eighth place in the freestyle race.
In other business tonight, the council:
- Rezoned eight recently annexed homes near Ross Bridge at 2151, 2155 and 2173 Silver Spur Lane and 1512, 1516, 1518, 1536 and 1542 Melton Road from a Jefferson County A-1 agricultural district to a Hoover A-1 agricultural district, with the condition that the lots cannot be further subdivided.
- Rezoned two recently annexed properties at 1863 and 1865 Buttercup Drive from Jefferson County R-1 single-family residential zoning to a Hoover R-1 single-family residential zone.
- Concurred with the Hoover Employee Advisory Board’s appointment of Mark Maynard to the city’s Personnel Review Board. Maynard is a resident of Ross Bridge.
- Agreed to have high grass and/or weeds at 2292 McGwier Drive cut due to the property being a public nuisance and a bill sent to the property owner.
- Declared five properties at 2113 Darlington Street, 3491 Flintshire Drive, 2426 Gawain Drive, 1423 Lantana Drive and 2049 Longmeadow Lane to be public nuisances due to high weeds and/or grass. The next step will be abatement, similar to the process taken for 2292 McGwier Drive, if action is not taken by the property owner to remedy the situation.