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Jonnie Shelton calls young neighbor Dylan Mask her "little lifesaver."
For good reason.
In August 2008, Shelton awoke to find the lower end of her street, Hanson Drive in Myers Park, under water after remnants of Tropical Storm Fay dropped 11 inches of rain and flooded pockets of the Charlotte region.
The elderly Shelton suffers from arthritis and scoliosis. She has limited eyesight and walks with a cane. That morning, her backyard was under 8feet of water, her front under 5. Water hadn't yet made it inside, but she knew she'd soon have to leave.
Suddenly, Dylan was banging at the door and shouting: "Jonnie, I'm going to get a canoe and get you out!"
In no time, the boy, then a fifth-grader and Webelo Cub Scout in Pack 17, was back with neighbor Greg Corrin to rescue Shelton in Corrin's canoe.
Sunday, because of that action and many others that day, Dylan was awarded the Boy Scouts of America's National Certificate of Merit.
"This is not something we do often," said Gil Middlebrooks, co-chair of the Mecklenburg council's Advancement Committee, which nominated Dylan. "Dylan clearly showed he'd learned the main lessons of scouting - he helped others at his own risk.
"Usually you'll find Boy Scouts doing this, not Cubs. Dylan showed great maturity."
The boy had no idea what the day would bring when his mother, Lisa, woke him at 6:30a.m. It'd been raining all night, and mother and son found lower Hanson Drive flooded.
The street runs off Providence Road, along Briar Creek and often floods after long, hard rains.
Dylan was immediately concerned for his elderly neighbors. His mother and other neighbors called 911, but no one came. So Dylan mobilized his own rescue effort.
"He was gone in an instant, shouting to me, 'I need to go find a boat,'" Lisa Mask said. "Thanks to his Scout training, he recognized that there was not only the life-threatening danger of drowning, but electrocution.
"He wasn't going to let anything happen to his neighbors."
He quickly enlisted Corrin's help. They cleaned ants out of the canoe, and paddled into the flood, where they saw snakes and rats.
They went door to door, with Dylan climbing out of the boat to make sure no one was trapped inside.
"He waded through rapidly rising, chest-deep, contaminated, snake-infested water to make sure everyone, their pets and belongings were safe," said neighbor James Brickell. "He is a true hero in our neighborhood."
They paddled the canoe up to Shelton's door. Dylan helped her gather clothes and medicines, and helped her into the canoe for the short trip to his house, on Hanson's high side.
Next they went for Shelton's elderly neighbor who suffers from dementia. She didn't want to leave, but Dylan calmly coaxed her into the canoe. Afraid, she held Dylan's hand the whole way to his house - as he reassured her she was safe.
He credits his Scout training for his actions.
"As a Scout, I felt I was doing my job and that it was the right thing to do to try and help," said Dylan, now a Boy Scout and sixth-grader at Alexander Graham Middle School. "They're my neighbors and my friends. I'd do it again."
