HEBER CITY, Utah — It was a hot Sunday afternoon. Tristan Treu and his older sister Maya were cooling off in their new pool, when suddenly, Maya slipped beneath the surface.
“I just got this feeling that I should pull her up," said Tristan.
Tristan acted on instinct and knew right away something was wrong.
“As soon as I pulled her up, foam was coming out of her mouth," he said. "Her eyes were going behind her head and her face was turning blue.”
It was the 14-year-old gir's first seizure ever, her dad Nate Treu said.
“Going through her vitals, everything looked normal," Nate said. "But obviously she wasn't normal. She couldn't speak, she couldn't really move.”
The Treu family never thought when they bought this backyard pool that they’d have to be ready for a water rescue, but being a volunteer with Wasatch County Search and Rescue, Nate knew it could happen anywhere.
“If there's water in somebody's backyard that is deep enough, it only takes a few inches for somebody to drown in," he said.
Maya would not have survived if Tristan hadn’t rescued her, said Heber City Police Chief David Booth. The chief awarded 11-year-old Tristan with the “Busted” award and an outstanding citizen medal.
“In Heber City, we love to 'bust' people," he said. "But we love to bust them making a difference, doing a good job.”
Nate has been a search and rescue volunteer for five years, and he hopes his son’s recognition will show other families how important it is to be prepared for anything.
“Maya is still with us today because of the way he reacted," he said.
