Quick-thinking 6-year-old helps save mom from frigid ocean waters

Jax Burnside was crabbing with his mom off the end of a dock in East Sooke,B.C. near Victoria last weekend when tragedy nearly struck, and his six-year-old hero instincts kicked in.

The sun was just going down and it was their last catchof the day when Jax's mom, Shannon Burnside, lost her footing on the dock at theCheanuh Marinaand fell backwards into the frigid water.

"Without Jax it would have gone horribly, horribly wrong," said Burnside.

She swam to the edge of the dock and tried to pull herself up. She was wearing a life jacket but a crab trap line had wound around her leg, preventing her from getting out of the water.

As she triedunsuccessfully to pull herselfonto the dock,Jax'sinstincts kicked in and he grabbed his dad's phone.

'Siri, call Daddy'

"He told Siri to call 911, and it did nothing, and then he said 'Siri, call Daddy,'she said.

When Jaxrealized he wasn't getting anywhere with the phone he ranup the dock yelling for help.

"You could see his little legs running," said marina employee Grant Sawyer.

"I saw a little boy come running up the dock and could hear him screaming for help," he said.

Sawyer quickly gathered life jacketsand heand a few others ran toward where they could hear the woman'sscreams.

"By the time he [Sawyer] got to me I had nothing left," said Burnside.

Burnside hadlost the strength to hold onand wasfloatingunderneaththe dock out of sight.

She started pounding on the wood underneath so they could locate her.

Sawyer and another man pulled Burnside up onto the dock, checked her vital signsand got her and Jax on a boat back to the marina office where she warmed up with dry clothes, warm blankets and a hot cocoa.

Burnside suffered cuts,bruises and a dislocated shoulder. She says she would have given up in the water had it not been for her son.

"There's just no way you can get out of the water. You lose your motivation," she said.

Mom and son, who are from nearby Colwood, are already trying to put the incident behind themthey've since travelled back down to the same docks for more crabbing and fishing.