A Colorado woman who dove into a Utah lake after her toddler son fell overboard managed to keep the tot from drowning, but she did not survive the act of heroism.
Chelsey Russell, 35, an associate at Denver law firm Welborn Sullivan Meck & Tooley, was on vacation with her 2-year-old son her, 5-year-old daughter, her mother and her brother at the time of the tragedy.
“We’d just had the most incredible week, our little family,” her mother, Trisha Hood told the Denver Post. “It is unfathomable how this happened.”
Russell and her two children were on board a housebout in southern Utah’s Lake Powell when her small son tumbled into the water.
Russell immediately dove into the water to keep the boy above the surface. Neither of the two were wearing life vests, according to a local Fox affiliate.
According to local media reports, Russell’s brother untied a smaller boat attached to the houseboat and rushed over to where his sister was propping up the child on top of her chest.
“The conscious child was rescued from atop the mother’s chest however; the mother was unconscious when pulled from the water,” a press release read.
Russell could not be revivied and was pronounced dead at Hall’s Crossing Marina.
Family told the Denver Post that she suffered from a heart condition since childhood and had died of a rare cardiac arrhythmia.
According to family members and friends who spoke to the Denver Post, the recently divorced woman had just bought her “dream home” and was excited about a new chapter of her life.
“She was the most incredibly beautiful soul and spirit. I was so blessed to have her for 35 years,” her mother told the Post.
