It is a tragedy, yet not a single family member or friend is surprised by what Chelsey Russell did for her son. Russell's children were her everything; sadly the all-encompassing love she felt for them cost her life.
The mom, her brother, and her two young children were vacationing on a houseboat on Lake Powell in Utah. Russell saw that her toddler son had fallen overboard. Neither he nor she was wearing a life jacket at the time.
Russell, a skilled athlete, wasted no time to dive in and save him. When her brother saw what happened he jumped into a dinghy and sped to rescue his sister. By the time he got to Russell he found her son on her chest, floating, but she was unconscious.
CPR was conducted for 30 minutes but Russell passed away. The mother didn't drown but suffered from a rare cardiac arrhythmia, a heart condition she struggled with since she was a child.
The 35-year-old mother, lawyer, and athlete will always be remembered by her community as the compassionate, brave, and courageous woman that gave her life for her son's.
Her family and friends are coming forward to honor Russell's legacy and share this heroic mother's story.
“She was unbelievably close to her mother and her brother,” Quinn Washington, her childhood friend said. “She was devastated when her father died, and she became the glue that kept the family together. It’s been one hit after another.”
Please SHARE Chelsey Russell's story if you believe she is a true hero.
