Mayor Jim Ferrell and the Federal Way City Council recognized lifeguards Kacey Janeicke and Jimmy Rosenbaum for “Extraordinary Personal Action” at the July 21 City Council meeting.

At approximately 6:25 p.m. on Saturday, July 4, lifeguard Jimmy Rosenbaum spotted a 4-year-old boy near the drop-off point at Steel Lake Park. The boy was in a “textbook active drowning state,” city officials said. Rosenbaum immediately made contact with the young boy and took him to shore.

When asked where his parents were, he was not able to give any information to the lifeguards. The guards found three relatives who informed the staff that the boy was Autistic and was not able to effectively communicate.

“As the father of a young son, I have to tell you Jimmy, your actions have touched my heart,” Mayor Ferrell said. “On behalf of the nearly 93,000 residents of Federal Way, Thank you.”

On Saturday, June 20, the first day Federal Way had lifeguards on duty — a young man jumped off the dock into the cold waters of Steel Lake.

As his head went under, he took on too much water, swallowing large gulps and began to panic. Fortunately, lifeguard Kacey Jaenicke was there. She immediately entered the water, made contact with the swimmer, and safely towed him back to the dock.

“Thanks to Kacey’s heroic actions, the young man was saved and was able to leave unharmed, said Federal Way Mayor Jim Ferrell in a news release. “We are fortunate to have highly trained lifeguards working for our parks department. Our entire parks staff works hard to provide world-class facilities that are fun and safe for our residents to enjoy.”

To learn more about water safety tips, visit www.redcross.org/prepare/disaster/water-safety.