Today, Lawton Bowen is a tow-headed ball of kinetic energy, a 3-year-old perpetual motion machine.

He and his parents have some very kind and courageous neighbors to thank for that.

Bowen was unconscious and lying at the bottom of the steps into the pool at Lost Plantation. On the afternoon of June 26, 10-year-old Collin Patrick Rahn saw Bowen there and noticed the 3-year-old had been there for a while.

Rahn lifted Bowen out of the water and summoned an adult. Alan Engebretson answered his call and together they got Katie Davis. Davis, a nurse, was at the pool and began cardiopulmonary resuscitation on young Bowen. An ambulance rushed Bowen to Memorial Health University Center in Savannah, with police units from Rincon, Port Wentworth and Garden City clearing the way.

“I just did what I had to do at that moment,” Davis said. “Instincts took over, I guess.”

The next day, Bowen was out of the hospital and back to being a normal 3-year-old.

“He’s a wonderful little boy, and he’s got a lot of life in him,” Davis said. “Some things don’t turn out as well as they did. I’m so thankful that they did.”

Buddy and Leslie Bowen were in Augusta at a softball tournament, along with Scott Morgan and his wife, when he got the call.

“It was pretty urgent. We rushed home to make sure everything was good,” Buddy Bowen said.

Rahn was swimming at the pool that day and saw the younger Bowen in the water. At first, he thought it was a kid who could hold his breath for a while. But Bowen wasn’t moving.

“He was under (water) for a while, so I picked him up and his lips were blue,” Rahn said.

That’s when he brought Bowen to Engebretson.

Davis and Rahn were honored with resolutions from the Rincon City Council, complete with standing ovations from council members, city staff and meeting attendees. Council members prepared a similar resolution honoring Engebretson.

Lawton Bowen spent one night in the hospital as doctors made sure his oxygen level and heartbeat were where those measurements needed to be for a healthy 3-year-old. He’s brushed off his brush with mortality and hasn’t slowed down from it.

“Not one bit,” said his father. “A few hours is all.”

Davis, who has been a nurse for five years, had never had a situation like that before. “And I hope never again,” she said.

Davis and Rahn don’t see themselves as heroes — even if the city and the Bowens may.

“I was just glad God let me be a part of it. God is good,” Davis said. “I’m not a hero. God is wonderful. He let us be in the right place at the right time that day. He took care of Lawton that day. He used us to help him.”

Said Rahn: “I’m just glad he’s here today.”

Buddy Bowen remains grateful and appreciative of the kindness of strangers toward his 3-year-old son in a time of desperate need

“I can’t say enough — thank you a million times,” he said.