13-year-old awarded Certificate of Valor by Bartlett for rescuing child from pond

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A 13-year-old boy was awarded a Certificate of Valor from the City of Bartlett for rescuing a 2-year-old child from a pond earlier this year.

According to the city, on Friday, April 26, Jack Phelps was riding his bike through a neighborhood on his way to a sleepover when a woman asked him to help her find her grandson.

Phelps did not hesitate and began combing the neighborhood for the 2-year-old boy. He eventually found the child, chin-deep in a pond.

Phelps immediately jumped into the pond and rescued the child from what the city says “would surely have been a tragedy.”

He then called his father and first responders arrived at the scene to attend to the child.

“Your actions that day are the very definition of the word hero. You are a hero to that child, his family, and to our community,” reads the Certificate of Valor. “Thank you for your courage and caring heart. The City of Bartlett is a better place with people like you in it.”

The certificate was presented to Phelps at Tuesday’s Board of Mayor and Alderman meeting.

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