
Hunter Cooksey, recent graduate of Como-Pickton
High School and lifeguard at City Pool.
Local Lifeguard Makes Rescue
at City Pool, Thursday Afternoon
by: Bobby McDonald
"It's always one of those things that you hope that you don't have to do, but all of the training you've had 'kicks-in' when the time comes!" expressed Hunter Cooksey, Lifeguard at the Sulphur Springs City Pool, as he described a rescue he was called upon to make, Thursday afternoon.
"About 4:00 p.m., two sisters were swimming in the pool and the smaller sister, approximately 5 or 6 years old, kept 'inching' further and further into the deeper end, where her older sister, who was about 10 years old, was swimming," related Cooksey. "The older sister would bring her back to the shallow end, and she'd continue to 'dog-paddle' out again. Well, she went 'one too many times' and was fatigued and went under, when attempting to reach her sister!"

Cooksey jumped into the pool and rescued the child, when she didn't have the strength, to surface, on her own.
"That's what our job is, as lifeguards," stated Cooksey, as he humbly accepted the praise for saving the young girl's life. "We've got to keep our eyes and ears on the pool and make certain that no one gets in trouble, and if the do, be there immediately!"
"I'm just glad that I was there and it all turned out, like it did!" continued Cooksey. "It had a happy ending and no one was hurt!"
Cooksey, a recent graduate of Como-Pickton High School, will be attending college at Bacone College, in Muskogee, Oklahoma, where he will be a member of their track team.
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