A Jefferson County teen will get national recognition this fall.
Jake Friebel, 14, of Byrnes Mill will be featured in the November issue of Scout Life, a monthly magazine published by the Boy Scouts of America.
He will be highlighted in the magazine for helping a swimmer who was struggling in the water at Johnson’s Shut-Ins State Park in Reynolds County in June 2020.
Several months after the incident, the Boy Scouts honored Jake with a Heroism Award.
Joe Sadewasser, CEO of the Greater St. Louis Area Council, Boy Scouts of America, said the award is given to Scouts who save someone’s life.
“Something that Scouting really works to impress on our young people is the importance of looking out for one another,” Sadewasser said. “Our Scouts are taught to help each other without expecting any reward, and this kind of behavior is exactly that. In the Scout Oath and Law, we set goals for how these young people work to be loyal to each other and be brave in the face of difficult situations, and Jake embodied this Oath.”
Jake, who was 13 when he helped the swimmer, is a member of Boy Scout troop 535, which is sponsored by High Ridge Elks and meets there every Monday night.
He said he believes the award has been given to about 6,500 in Scouting history.
“It makes me feel pretty proud of myself,” Jake said.
His mom and dad, Jennifer and Tim Friebel, are even prouder.
“I was very proud of him that day because he acted like it was no big deal,” Jennifer said. “He’s very modest about it.”
Jennifer said she told Jake’s former Scoutmaster, Bill Newburger, about what happened, and he applied for Jake to get a Medal of Merit award.
“We didn’t find out until January he was going to get (the medal), and when (the Boy Scouts) called, they said they didn’t think that award was good enough, so they bumped it up to the Heroism Award,” Jennifer said.
As part of the application process, Jake had to write an account of the event and submit that, along with accounts from three witnesses, Jennifer said.
Jake said his mom, dad and a family friend were his witnesses.
He officially received the award in April at an Order of the Arrow ceremony, which Jennifer said is like an honor society for Scouts. She said Jake joined the Order of the Arrow in summer 2019.
The rescue
Jake said that on June 12, 2020, he and some of his friends were enjoying the rock slides at Johnson’s Shut-Ins when he noticed a girl struggling to keep afloat in the water.
He said one of the rock slides had a whirlpool at the bottom, and the girl started having trouble swimming there.
“To get through the whirlpool, you just have to swim through it without stopping and you will be fine, but she stopped and turned around to look for a friend and then got pulled under,” Jake said.
He said he could see the girl’s hand, so he grabbed it and pulled her up.
“I told her to hang on to the rock I was hanging on to,” he said. “I guess out of adrenaline, she let go again and fell back into (the whirlpool).”
After that, Jake couldn’t see the girl, but he reached out further and was able to grab her hand again, and then he pulled her away from the whirlpool and to safety.
Jake said he believes his “natural instinct” kicked in when he saw the girl in trouble.
“I can’t exactly recall what I was thinking, but it was a combination of, ‘Oh God,’ and ‘Save her,’” he said.
Jake said he made sure the girl was OK before she left. He said he assumed the girl was 16 or 17, but he didn’t really talk to her and didn’t even learn her name.
“I was shaken up. It was nerve-racking because you don’t expect to do that (have to help a struggling swimmer).”
Jennifer said the girl was fine but was crying after her struggle in the water.
“She climbed out of the area and left,” Jennifer said.
Jake said he has not had lifeguard training, but he does have a Red Card from the Boy Scouts, indicating he has had CPR training, which he said he takes every two years from a firefighter.
“I have my first aid merit badge,” he said. “I have a swimming merit badge as well.”
Jake attended Valley Middle School and will be a freshman at Northwest High School when the 2021-2022 school year starts in August.
Valley Middle Principal Nicole Huffman said she wasn’t surprised to hear about Jake helping the girl at Johnson’s Shut-Ins.
“He is a great kid with a great heart, kind, dedicated to whatever he’s in, and he gives it 110 percent, and he does the right thing,” Huffman said. “But what I was surprised by was his humbleness.
“According to Jake, everybody should just do the right thing and everybody should go and save a life. It’s pretty amazing for a kiddo his age to have that outlook.”
Huffman said the entire Valley Middle School staff is proud of Jake.
“I think it’s simply amazing to see our youth stepping up and being leaders in the community,” she said.
Jake said he has been in Scouts for eight years.
“I enjoy learning stuff revolving around the outdoors, merit badges, skills that can help you later in life,” he said.
Jake said he got involved in Scouts because his grandfather, Ken Unger, and uncle, Jeff Unger, both were Scouts.