Jackson boys rescue 5-year-old girl who nearly drowned in Hubble Creek

Four boys rescued a 5-year-old Sunday afternoon after she was swept under a bridge in Hubble Creek.

Kinsley Stuart was playing on a water bridge at Jackson City Park with her mother, Casey Enderle Stuart, when a strong current swept Kinsley under the culvert bridge.

“I blinked, and my 5-year-old daughter was there, and I blinked again — it happened so fast — and she was gone,” Stuart said.

Jackson Lee, Aiden Kyle, Eli Kyle, Isaiah Randol and Alex Niedbalski pose for a photo with Kinsley Stuart, pictured in front. The boys rescued Stuart from drowning on Sunday in Jackson's Hubble Creek. Submitted by Casey Enderle Stuart

A group of boys who were also playing in the water jumped in to save Kinsley, Stuart said.

Aiden Kyle, 11, was the first to notice Kinsley missing and spotted her hand holding on the side of the bridge. He grabbed her wrist, reaching under the culvert to pull her by the arm against the strong current, Aiden said.

His mother, Heather Crass, said a friend of Aiden’s almost drowned at a pool party a few years prior. While the friend recovered, she was in a coma and needed to be intubated at a hospital. Since that incident, Crass said her son has been on alert while in the water.

Kinsley Stuart, 5, poses for a photo. Stuart was rescued from potential drowning Sunday in Jackson's Hubble Creek.Submitted

“My first thought was there was no way I’m letting this girl go,” Aiden said.

Isaiah Randol, 15, joined Aiden to help pull the girl out of the water. Aiden said he also began to be pulled under as Alex Niedbalski, 15, and Aiden’s brother Eli, 15, helped to pull the two out of the water.

Kinsley was taken to the Saint Francis Medical Center emergency room and released Monday morning without injury.

Both Stuart and Crass said there is an immediate need for a protective cover over the culvert to prevent this from happening again.

“I didn’t even know there was a culvert, so to have my kids out there playing in the creek, I would’ve had no idea there was any danger at all,” Crass said. “But that spot, where the culvert is, is a powerful suction.”

The National Weather Service issued a flood warning Monday in Cape Girardeau County due to heavy rainfall. The Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau is currently recorded at 31.14 feet and forecast to rise to 36 feet, surpassing flood stage.

NWS warns against playing in or wading through flooded waters, and states on its website only 6 inches of water is enough to knock someone off their feet. Crass said the water in the creek was ankle-deep when Kinsley was pulled under the culvert.

“This was serious, and it could’ve been a lot worse,” Aiden said. “The story would’ve been very, very different.”