Kentucky mother-of-three jumps into water to rescue stranger’s drowning child, dies to save him: ‘She needs to quit being a super woman’

A single mother of three from Bowling Green, Kentucky, has died after pulling a stranger’s child from a creek.

Sarah Jo Reeder, 42, was visiting the creek at Phil Moore Park in Alvaton with some of her children on Friday, June 12, when she noticed a young boy struggling and going under. She jumped into the water to rescue the boy, and per what Reeder’s longtime friend Melissa Donovan told WBKO, he grabbed onto her and pulled her down with him.

A paddle-boarder eventually hauled both Reeder and the child out of the water and called for emergency help. The boy survived, but Reeder was rushed to The Medical Center in Bowling Green in critical condition and did not recover.

The Warren County Coroner’s Office said Reeder was pronounced dead at 10:37 p.m. that night, hours after first responders from multiple agencies were dispatched to the park. The coroner attributed her death to a lack of oxygen reaching her brain.

Reeder’s family has since come forward to talk about the woman behind the story that’s spreading online. Her best friend, Ashley Flowers, told WNKY that Reeder was born in Ohio and moved to Kentucky as a child. She grated from Warren Central High School, and studied business administration at Colorado Technical University.

Flowers described the rescue as entirely in character. She said that Reeder’s reflex was always to help, saying she would run into a burning building for anyone — even a cat. Flowers said that she wished she could turn back time and tell her friend “she needs to quit being a super woman.”

Sarah’s mom, Becky Crick, said much the same thing. “It was hard to believe she was gone but when I found out she had jumped in the water to save that little boy, that didn’t surprise me. That’s the way she was.”

Donovan, who was not on the scene when the incident happened, said she hopes Reeder’s death leads to a safety change at the park. She claimed (per WBKO) swimmers being swept up at the creek is not unusual and happens most years, and that she would like to see flotation lifesavers installed on ropes at the site as a tribute.

A crowdfunding page has been set up to help cover Reeder’s funeral expenses, which you can check out from here. As of writing this, more than 200 people have donated, and the campaign is close to hitting its goal of $20,000.