By Judy Halone-The Courier-Herald

A potential tragedy on Lake Tapps was averted May 24 when quick-thinking volunteers jumped in the water to save victims from a boating accident.

Greg and Rhonda Jones of Federal Way were in the middle of the north end of Lake Tapps when their 15-foot boat began to sink.

“Our boat started taking on water in the back,” Rhonda Jones said. “It really happened very quickly. My husband was trying to bail it but it was just coming in quick.”

The boat carried Jones, her husband and four children, including her toddler, Isaiah, and their adult-disabled son.

When the boat started to sink, the couple frantically ordered everyone toward the front.

“The water got up to the center off the boat and it was starting to get in the front seat. My daughters tried to wave for help.”

Several nearby boats responded immediately, she said, while the six passengers struggled in the cold water.

“I told them I had a baby and a disabled child on the boat,” she said. “When the boat pulled up we thought we had plenty of time. However, when we went to the side of the boat for my daughter to get on the other boat, it flipped sideways - it was so full of water.

Jones said things happened fast.

“We all went down,” she said. “When I came up, I looked up and my two daughters and my disabled boy were being pulled onto the boat,” she said.

“But my baby was not. I was looking around and could see my husband, but I couldn't see Isaiah,” she said of the 2 year old.

Panic sunk in.

“I started yelling that my baby was still in the water,” she said. “I just could not believe he didn't pop up, because he had a life jacket on. I just freaked out.

“The women on the boat started yelling at their husbands that a baby was in the water. They started jumping in. People swimming under could not find him. In the meantime, there were about four or five boats nearby. Several men were in the water. I've heard since then there were about 15 to 20 men trying to flip the boat, because they believed Isaiah was under it.”

The water rescuers formed a virtual bucket brigade.

“There were 10 men trying to flip it over, and also men grabbing their legs, pulling them just to get more leverage,” she said. “I think it took about three to four minutes.”

Then, the miracle.

“They lifted it just enough and Gary (Moran) fished around and felt skin, and he pulled him out. Someone yelled, ‘We got him! We got him!' I saw someone pulling him by the arm onto the other boat. One of the women said the guy on the boat was a paramedic, and I was OK with that.”

Jones said the crowd kept her away while they tried to revive Isaiah.

“They didn't want me to touch him. They didn't want me near him because I was so emotional,” she said.

Adding to the challenge was that Isaiah had developed diver's clamp, she later learned. “It's where they close their jaw when they take on water. He had to pry it open and clear his airway, and then he started breathing on his own.

“Finally, they got him wrapped in a blanket and I got to hold him,” she said.

East Pierce Fire and Rescue transported Isaiah to Mary Bridge Children's Hospital in Tacoma, Jones said. He was kept overnight for observation, released the following day and does not remember the incident.

But his mom does, and said she's thankful the children were wearing life jackets.

East Pierce Fire and Rescue paramedic Jeff Palensky, who was on the first truck to arrive on the scene, agreed.

“It was nice to see all four of the kids were wearing life jackets,” he said. “It could have been a different outcome if they hadn’t.”

“That's what saved his life,” she said. “I think there's too many people who don't.”

East Pierce Fire and Rescue noted that life jackets are available for loan to the public by calling 253-863-1800.

Judy Halone can be reached at jhalone@courierherald.com.