8-year-old girl helps saves uncle in Lake Moses, Minnesota

MILLERVILLE, Minn. (AP) - Eight-year-old Jordyn Patrick's swim lessons recently paid off when she helped save her uncle from drowning in Lake Moses near Millerville.

Dan Shea, of St. Stephen, broke his neck after hitting the bottom while diving off a dock July 16.

He came up for air in the four to five feet of water but couldn't move his arms and legs and was screaming for help.

The only person nearby was his niece Jordyn, who remained calm and grabbed his arm. She says she held it until her father - an emergency medical technician - came. Shea later learned he had crushed his C5 vertebra.

But after surgery, it now looks like he'll make a full recovery.

Shea tells WCCO-TV that he's learned not to take life for granted.

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Information from: WCCO-TV, http://www.wcco.com

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.