Cub Scout recognized for heroic act

COURTESY OF JOHN V. MARINCAS Christopher Gall, 8, proudly displays the certificate of achievement he received last week for saving a fellow swimmer last summer in his grandmother’s pool.

BRICK TOWNSHIP — It only took an instant for Christopher Gall to embody all of the ideals he learned in the Cub Scouts.

Gall, 8, was enjoying a summer day in August, swimming in his grandmother’s pool in Point Pleasant, when an 11-year-old boy slipped under the water.

“I knew he didn’t swim a lot,” said Gall, a third-grader at Midstreams Elementary School. “I was thinking if there’s a problem, I’m going to save him.”

The boy, who was the grandson of Gall’s grandmother’s friend, was from northern New Jersey and didn’t have a lot of experience in a pool.

The boy was in the shallow end of the in-ground pool and accidentally slid down into the deeper side. The boy came up for air once and went under the water again and began to panic.

A quick-thinking Gall, who had only recently learned to swim himself, swam over to the boy and pulled him to safety.

“I got him by the neck and I pulled him to the side of the pool and told him to hang onto the ledge,” Gall said.

“When Chris brought him to the side of the pool, he was choking,” said Debra Gall, Christopher’s mother. “Chris was making jokes trying to get him to laugh.”

Although both grandmothers were by the pool, by the time they realized what was happening, Gall had already rescued the boy.

“This is pretty exceptional from our standpoint,” said John V. Marincas, cubmaster of Pack 163, Gall’s Cub Scout pack. “He didn’t do a lot of the things adults would have done. He reacted. He didn’t freeze.”

Gall was recognized for his heroic act by his Cub Scout pack last week with a certificate of achievement. Marincas plans on submitting his act of bravery for a medal from the Boy Scouts of America.

“I’m really proud of him,” Debra Gall said. “His father, Neal, has been teaching him water safety and you don’t think it’s sinking in, but it is.”

Debra Gall said Chris has been a Cub Scout since he was in the first grade. The experience has build his self-confidence, compassion for others and sense of volunteerism.

“He’s so modest, though,” his mother said. “It was no big deal to him.”

— Danielle Medina