To be a safety advocate is to surround yourself in tragedy on a daily basis. So it’s nice when every once in a while a story comes along that allows us to teach a lesson while still giving readers a happy ending.

Our story begins on a recent day in Denver, Colorado. Twenty-three-year-old Dusti Talavera was inside her Denver apartment, watching kids through the window as they played on a frozen pond. It’s a good thing she was, because the pond wasn’t as frozen as these kids apparently thought.

In a split second the ice cracked, and three kids fell into the freezing water. “Before I even realized it,” Talavera says, “I was out there on the middle of the pond, pulling two kids out.” You might be able to guess what happens next. The ice broke underneath Talavera, as it so often does in these situations, plunging her into the 15-feet deep, icy cold water as well.

While dunked in the frigid pond, she was able to grab ahold of the third child: a limp, unconscious 6-year-old girl. Talavera treaded water while trying to hold the girl’s head above the surface. The girl’s teenage cousin then arrived with a much-needed rope, pulling the two to safety.

The little girl wasn’t responsive and wasn’t breathing. But thankfully a rescue crew that arrived shortly thereafter was able to revive her with CPR, getting her to breathe on her own again. So hopefully she’ll make a full recovery.

Things could have turned out very differently, and it’s often subtle little things that spell the difference between a second chance and tragedy: A watchful citizen, a quick response, the presence of others to help, the rapid arrival of someone who knows CPR. Had these things not been present, the story might have ended very differently for these kids, and at least one of them would have lost her life.

Let this incident serve as a reminder to talk with your kids about the danger of walking across frozen bodies of water. Normally at this point I’d refer you to some children’s book or printable that would help you teach kids this concept, but when I went to go and find it, I realized we didn’t have any. (There are still some gaps in our resources we’re working to plug.) So I’m putting together a short printable coloring book that will teach kids about this danger. It should be ready in about 2 weeks; continue to follow our blog and we’ll post a notice whenever it’s released.

Print our Coloring Mini Workbook Diane’s Dumb Decision