11-Year-Old Boy Dives Into Action to Save Drowning Man After Others Froze

July 6, 2026

An 11-year-old boy is being praised as a hero after he spotted a man lying unconscious at the bottom of an apartment complex swimming pool and rushed in to save his life when no one else moved.

Avory Woolery / Credit: Local 12

The dramatic rescue happened Wednesday evening in Lexington, Kentucky, where young Avory Woolery noticed something was terribly wrong.

"There was this man in the pool, like unconscious underwater, almost shaking, maybe, and my adrenaline kicked in," Avory recalled.

As precious seconds passed, Avory realized no one was stepping in.

"No one was doing anything, so I put on my goggles. I went underwater," he said. "I grabbed him up and I just felt really bad because there was no way that I was going to let another man die today. He's a human being. He should be treated as such."

Despite his age, Avory managed to pull the man to the surface and out of the water. Once on the pool deck, the man's friend immediately began performing CPR while someone else called 911.

According to the Lexington Fire Department, the man was taken to a hospital in serious condition.

Avory's father, Sean Woolery, said he could not be prouder of his son's courage.

"I'm proud of him. Somebody, when I was walking up here, somebody said, 'Thank you, you taught him how to swim,'" he said.

Thanks to one brave 11 year old who refused to stand by, a man was given a fighting chance to survive.