8-year-old helps save uncle in Lake Moses

Jordyn Patrick, 8, had swim lessons that recently paid off when she helped save her uncle from drowning in Lake Moses near Millerville.

Dan Shea, of St. Stephen, broke his neck after hitting the bottom while diving off a dock July 16.

He came up for air in the four to five feet of water but couldn't move his arms and legs and was screaming for help.

The only person nearby was his niece Jordyn, who remained calm and grabbed his arm. She says she held it until her father - an emergency medical technician - came. Shea later learned he had crushed his C5 vertebra.

Create a More Connected Minnesota

MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.

But after surgery, it now looks like he'll make a full recovery.

Shea tells WCCO-TV that he's learned not to take life for granted.

---

Information from WCCO-TV

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)