HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. -- When Tech. Sgt. Tom Carter, his wife Candice and their one-year-old son Evan went for a swim in Lake Michigan during a vacation last month, they had no idea the day would turn out the way it did and that the sergeant would go to bed that night as a newly minted hero.
Sergeant Carter, the NCO-in-charge of Circuit Actions for the 1st Special Operations Communications Squadron, his wife and son were swimming on a stretch of beach near the cabin his great-grandfather built when something grabbed their attention.
"While we were in the water, we noticed a woman near where we were, and she was by herself," he said. "She seemed to be a bit unstable, so we kept an eye on her."
A little while later, the family trio decided to head to shore because the little one was getting tired. In those few seconds they had their backs to the water, the lone woman disappeared.
"When I reached the shore and turned back around to check on the woman, I couldn't see her head above water anymore," Sergeant Carter said. Worried about her safety, he headed down the beach to try to find her. "When I got to the beach where she had been, she had washed up on the shore. She was blue and unresponsive. My wife went to call 911, but I knew I had to do something."
Without hesitation, Sergeant Carter pulled her up farther on the beach, positioned her for CPR and began compressions. After a few cycles of compressions and breaths, she came around. Soon after, a deputy from the Allegan County Sheriff's Office arrived on scene and took control.
Fate might have just been on the 34-year-old woman's side that day. The beach where Sergeant Carter and his family were swimming was in a remote location "out in the sticks." The woman had wandered about a half mile away from her family. So the Carters were the only ones around to notice that she had gone under.
A few days after the incident, when the woman was released from the hospital, the Carters had a chance to meet the woman who owed her life to them.
"She was very grateful and emotional," Sergeant Carter said. "And it was great for us to see her again, and to see her alive and healthy."
The woman wasn't the only one who extended her thanks to the sergeant. Allegan County Sheriff Blaine Koops sent a thank you letter to make sure Sergeant Carter's leadership knew the extraordinary thing he had done.
"I would like to take this opportunity to commend Sergeant Carter for his quick thinking and heroic actions during this emergency," the sheriff's letter reads. "His actions to save the life of a fellow citizen deserve our praise and sincere appreciation for the positive outcome of this serious incident."
Despite all the praise Sergeant Carter is receiving, he doesn't feel like a hero. The self-proclaimed introvert didn't really even want that much attention brought to the situation. But there is one reason he's letting the story get out.
"To give credit where credit is due," he said. "The Air Force deserves the credit for saving this woman's life. Without them, I wouldn't have had the training to do what I did, and the outcome may have been much less happy."
Now that he's back at Hurlburt Field, Sergeant Carter is hoping to become a CPR instructor on base so that he not only equips others with the life-saving skills he used that day, but also so that the skills are fresh in his mind should he ever find himself in another situation like that day on the lake.