It was around dinnertime Tuesday when the call came in to Aberdeen's north fire station.
A 3-year-old girl had been pulled from a pool at the Ramkota Hotel. She wasn't breathing.
Four firefighters from Aberdeen Fire and Rescue jumped into action. Together, they saved the girl's life.
Heroes come in all shapes and sizes, all ages and genders. Sometimes, they are like the firefighters - trained professionals just doing their job.
But heroes can also be people just like you.
Tales of everyday heroes are all around us. There are the boys who stopped to help an injured man on their way home from a fishing trip.
There's also the young woman who leaped into the water to save a young boy adrift on the Missouri River.
For her act of courage, Lynnae Volzke is receiving an award in Washington, D.C. this month. But like most life-savers, Volzke, 18, of Aberdeen, struggles to think of herself as a hero.
"I did what I hope anyone in that situation would've done," said Volzke, a senior at Central High School.
'There at the right time': Last August, Volzke was on a church-sponsored Missouri River kayaking trip, which she has taken every summer since seventh grade.
On the last day of the trip, a father, his 7-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter joined the regular campers on the river in their own kayak, Volzke said.
The family came to a turbulent part of the river and couldn't navigate around a tree. The boat capsized. The father was able to grab the little girl and cling to a tree, but Volzke said the boy fell out and was swept away by the water.
Immediately, Volzke jumped out of her kayak and swam a short distance against the current after him. Once she reached him she hung onto a tree until she and the others were able to get to safety.
Later, Volzke found out the water in that part of the river is 40 feet deep.
Volzke's parents Marlys and Dennis said their daughter's lifeguard training came in handy. Lynnae Volzke, a lifeguard at Holgate pool, is a strong swimmer and kept a cool head during the ordeal.
"I knew if I panicked everyone else would panic," she said.
During the commotion, Volzke thought to retrieve her cellular phone to report the incident - a move that later won her an award.
Through a Cellular One newsletter, Volzke found out about a contest asking people to write about ways they had used their cell phones in an emergency. Now she is one of 10 people in the U.S. heading to Washington, D.C. on May 15 to accept a 2005 VITA Wireless Samaritan Award.
Volzke is excited for the trip, though she downplays her heroism.
"I'm just glad I was there at the right time," she said.
'A reason for everything': Kim Diesterhaft could say the same.
Diesterhaft was returning home from a fishing trip to Mina Lake on old Highway 12 with her sons Jacob, 13, and Reese, 10, friend Cody Kriz and another pal. They passed some cows in the road and figured they should stop to let the owner know.
When they went up to the house, they heard the farmer screaming for help.
That man was Don Griese, who had broken his leg in two places after it was run over by a skid steer loader. Griese, 49, said he was only laying about five minutes when he saw the Diesterhafts stop at his house.
"I could see them get out," said Griese, who was in Avera St. Luke's Hospital on Thursday. "I was hoping they could hear me because I was home alone."
They did. Kim Diesterhaft ran toward the cries and found Griese lying on the ground. Jacob called 911, and Diesterhaft said all of the boys played roles in helping Griese.
"I'm really proud of them and the way that they handled (it)," she said.
Griese, who expects to be released from St. Luke's soon, said he feels very fortunate.
"I just want to thank (them) for stopping," he said.
"It was a really good experience actually saving someone's life," said Jacob, who says he sort of feels like a hero. "We just thank God that we (stopped)."
Said Kim Diesterhaft, "There's a reason for everything."
'Just part of the job': None of the four firefighters called to the Ramkota Hotel Tuesday will take credit individually for saving the Aberdeen toddler.
"It definitely was a team thing," said firefighter/paramedic Bob Braun of Ipswich.
Braun, Lt. Trent Anderson of Groton, firefighter/emergency medical technician Jason Engel of Aberdeen, and firefighter/EMT Rob Johnsen of Aberdeen say they worked together to revive the girl, who was later flown by emergency helicopter to a Sioux Falls hospital. She's expected to recover.
Life-saving calls like these happen all the time for firefighters. When a call comes in on a child, Johnsen said, there is much more urgency, "more pressure."
"Your ears perk up and you move a little quicker," Engel added.
Sometimes, survivors come in to thank them. Otherwise, they don't often receive recognition for their efforts.
But that's OK with them.
Said Engel, "It's just part of the job."
Distributed by the Associated Press
