By Isak Dinesen
SCHOFIELD, Wis. (WAOW) -- 12-year-old Dexter Burnett made what was a normal walk home from a Boy Scout meeting on Tuesday, but it wasn't one he originally was planned to make.
"We were actually supposed to go to the DC Everest pool, and do swimming," Dexter's assistant scoutmaster, Mike Marcell said.
However, the pool wasn't ready for them, so they finished the day at their normal meeting spot at St. Therese School, just blocks from Dexter's house.
"I was walking, coming from [the south]," Dexter said.
That's when he heard something that didn't sound right.
"I was at about the garbage cans when I heard somebody yelling for help," Dexter recalled.
That noise came from an elderly woman on the floor of her unopened garage.
Her side door was open; he entered and found her bleeding from the head.
"I walk over, help her up, I run back to Boy Scouts which is basically at the end of this street at St. Therese and then get Mr. Marcell," Dexter said. Marcell and an Eagle Scout, who is soon to be studying to become an EMT in college, followed Dexter to the house.
"She's got blood all over her shirt, a pool of blood in the garage. We were able to get her into the house and get her sitting down," Marcell added; he would call 911 to get the woman an ambulance.
First responders say Dexter did the exact right thing.
"For this young Boy Scout to do this, and provide assistance, not be afraid, and go when somebody was calling out for help to see if they could render assistance is phenomenal," said Riverside Fire Chief Rob Bowen.
"The entire time Dexter was right there, asking her questions, trying to help her, comfort her," Marcell added.
During the process, Dexter had managed his composure well, which he says was a priority.
"I tried to remain calm, just so I didn't get overwhelmed and then freak out or anything," he said.
But when he got home, the emotions of the experience overwhelmed him.
"The first thing the scoutmaster said was, 'Dexter was a hero this evening.' And he came out, barreling out and just buried his arms in me and gave me a huge hug and had a few tears," his mom, Brenda Burnett said.
She
adds that it's not out of character for Dexter to have compassion for
others, but here, he might have done the ultimate deed.
"I believe he really saved her life. If he wouldn't have found her, I think someone else would have found her the next day in not a very good spot," Burnett said.
"As a mom, you try to make your children caring and kind to everyone that you see, but in this situation, he really did something huge," she added.
The injured woman's status is not clear at this time.
Burnett adds that once the woman gets out of the hospital, she hopes Dexter can properly meet the woman she saved.
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