Teens recognized for rescue of drowning friend

It's been two months since 17-year-old Kevin Telles nearly drowned in the East Fork of the Carson River.

On Thursday, Douglas County commissioners and East Fork Fire & Paramedic Districts recognized the seven teenagers who saved Telles' life, who pulled the unconscious Douglas High School junior out of the water and administered CPR until rescue personnel arrived on the scene.

Dylan Downs, Richard Garcia, Robert Schwoerer, Stephen Pieters, Kendra Blum, Joseph Lozano and Tyler Kowalski are credited with saving the young man's life.

Three of the seven, Blum, Lozano and Garcia, were at Thursday's meeting. They and the four other teens each received framed proclamations commending the heroic act.

"It plays in my head all the time," said Blum, who's known Telles since preschool. "But it's something we would have done for anyone. We weren't looking to be heroes. Kevin would have done the same thing for us."

On the afternoon of June 4, the day before Douglas High's graduation ceremony, Telles and a group of friends were swimming around the broken power dam south of Ruhenstroth. The teenagers were jumping off rocks into a deep pool below the deteriorating structure. When Telles landed in the water, he was caught in the river's strong undertow.

"It was the scariest moment in my life, like a movie," Garcia said. "I didn't know what to think. I knew we had to do something. He was under water for two minutes and we were looking for him, just bawling. At some point, instinct took over."

Friends found Telles about 50 yards downstream, floating face-down in the water. They pulled him out of the river, called 911 and, with no formal training, began CPR.

"He looked dead for sure," Garcia said.

Once they started rescue breathing, though, Telles started coughing up water.

"He was like a fish, taking little short breaths," said Lozano. "Everything was so vivid."

Friends continued CPR for several minutes until emergency personnel arrived on the scene. With a shallow pulse, Telles was transported by stretcher to a bridge about a quarter of a mile below the dam. There a helicopter was waiting to take him to Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno.

"Life is tender," Garcia said.

"You can't take it for granted," added Blum.

Commission Chairwoman Nancy McDermid read a letter to the audience from Telles' father in Oregon, who referred to the life-saving peers as "The Magnificent Seven."

"June 4 was the worst day of my life," Ronald Telles wrote in the letter. "I will always remember getting the phone call that my boy had drown. But it was also a day that heroes were born. I am so thankful to them that I can hardly contain myself."

Telles' mother, Vivian Telles, expressed a similar sentiment.

"I'm very thankful the kids used their heads and didn't panic," she said on Monday. "They literally saved his life and got him breathing again."

Telles said her son just met two of the kids that day.

"Apparently, three carloads of kids had gone to the river," she said. "Once I understood everything, it was hard for me take in that he'd actually drowned. The worst part was when he was in intensive care for four nights, using a ventilator tube."

Telles said her son's lungs had absorbed such a dangerous amount of water that doctors weren't sure if he was going to make it. But he pulled through.

"The first night he could hear his friends who visited," she said. "He couldn't talk to us, though; he had a neck brace and tubes on. But he could write notes to his friends. He saw one of the boys who had been at the river, and he asked for a pen. He then wrote, 'Thanks for saving my life, bro.'"

Telles said at that point, she was hopeful her son would recover.

"They didn't know if there had been any damage to the brain, but he appeared to start remembering things. He looked OK, and slowly his memory came back. We told him about his trip in CareFlight, and his eyes almost popped out of his head. Then the kids started sharing information with him."

Slowly but surely, Kevin Telles recovered from the accident. After six days of treatment, he walked out of the hospital with no help.

"He was completely worn out by the time he got home," his mother said.

Now, Telles is visiting his father in Oregon.

"He told me he's able to run two miles again," she said. "He's already gone on a hike with some of those same friends."

As for the popular and hazardous swimming hole, Telles said her son has had enough.

"He's never going back to that river again," she said. "I will always be grateful for those kids. They didn't panic, but did everything they could to save their friend's life. Our whole family is very thankful."

Telles also thanked the service agencies who responded that day, including the Washoe Tribe, Douglas County Sheriff's Office, CareFlight, Renown Regional Medical Center and East Fork Fire & Paramedic Districts.

"It's a good feeling knowing that young people in our community helped a friend in a time of need," East Fork Deputy Fire Chief Steve Tognoli said on Monday. "There was a whole sequence of events that basically saved an individual's life, from calling 911 to giving CPR.

"It's a good lesson. Even though it was a bad situation, these individuals were able to come together and help. They were participating bystanders. And from their initiation, to the work of emergency responders, everything worked like it should've for a positive outcome."

Tognoli said the fire department offers monthly CPR training for the community. Those interested in learning rescue breathing should call 782-9040.