Many people talk about having a guardian angel to watch over them. Twelve-year-old Oxford resident David Crump says he has four.
Around three o’clock on July 22, David was playing water tag in the middle of Clear Lake near the high dive raft with friends Tony and Ryan Markowitz and Brendon and John Krug when the game nearly turned deadly.
John Krug, 12, said that he had just tagged David “it” when the boys noticed their friend wasn’t swimming. “He was like bobbing up and down in the water,” said Brendon Krug, 14.
“He seemed to be unconscious in the water,” added Tony Markowitz, 16. “That’s when we knew he was in trouble.”
The boys realized that David, who has mitral valve prolapse (MVP), was having chest pains and a panic attack. The 12-year-old takes medicine for the cardiac problem which generally throws off the heart’s rhythm.
Brendon was the first to reach David in the water, but found he was not strong enough after swimming to carry his friend. He handed the struggling youth over to Tony, who pulled him onto the diving raft.
When David regained consciousness, he told his friends he needed his medicine at home and dove back into the water to swim to shore and get his bike. However, David once again lost consciousness and had to be rescued by his friends.
Ryan Markowitz, 13, swam to shore to find help, while the other three boys relayed their friend the 100 yards through the water. Once on shore, the three youths checked his vital signs, a skill they learned from boy scouts, and then went to search for help with Ryan.
They finally stopped a passing motorist, who drove the five boys to David’s house. After finding the medicine, Tony said it only took a few minutes to take effect and regulate David’s heart.
“We were a little scared, but we’ve seen this happen before, so we kind of knew what to do for him,” added Tony.
Another friend, Alex McKeown, said the boys have helped David at least two other times when he had a heart problem.
“During the gas leak day, we were out goofing around and all of a sudden he started screaming and grabbing his chest,” said Alex. “That’s the first time we’ve ever seen him do that.”
The next time the boys saw David have an attack was on the school bus. This time they helped the bus driver to get David assistance.
With both of these experiences under their belts, the four friends knew how to keep clear heads and handle the situation at Clear Lake.
“We just remained calm and worked as a team,” said Ryan.
“They knew what to do on their own that day,” said Pam Roberson, Tony and Ryan’s mother. “I think if they keep sticking together, they’ll all be just fine.”
When asked what he thinks of his friends, David had one quick answer:
“They’re my own personal life guards. I’ll at least have one with me all the time.”