George Hunter

The Detroit News

Roseville — While onlookers reportedly used their cellphones to film a 3-year-old boy struggling to stay afloat in the Clinton River, Ron Elko, who can’t swim, jumped in the water and rescued the child.

“I’ve never been recognized for anything good,” said Elko, 36, who was paroled from prison in August 2016 after being convicted two years earlier of retail fraud and drug offenses.

Corrections and law enforcement officials presented Elko with an award of recognition Thursday during a ceremony in the Macomb County Parole Office, where Elko reports.

“I’m not a hero; I just did what I had to do ... everyone else was just standing there with their cellphones, taking videos,” the Clinton Township resident said.

About 5 p.m. Sunday, a woman, her toddler son and her friend were feeding ducks on a boardwalk along the river when the boy fell into the water.

Elko said he originally had told a friend’s 10-year-old daughter he would take her fishing Saturday, but they wound up going the next day.

“I was standing at the river fishing,” Elko said. “We were about 100 feet away when I heard a commotion and saw three people in the water. I just started running. At first, I thought it was a joke; just someone playing around. Then I saw the kid go underwater.

“I jumped in and started reaching out with my hand,” he said. “I don’t know how to swim, but I just started kicking.”

He said he grabbed the child and made his way toward the boardwalk. The 10-year-old girl he was with took the boy from him. “The other people were too busy filming it to help,” Elko said.

“I got on the dock and started throwing up water, because I’d swallowed a lot of water,” he said.

Elko said he noticed the boy’s mother’s friend struggling in the water. “I told (the boy’s mother), ‘I’m sorry I can’t go back in; I can’t swim,’ ” he said.

The friend, 34-year-old Joshua Traylor of Clinton Township, also had jumped into the river to try to save the boy. Once the child was safe, his mother went into the water to help Traylor, but by then he had submerged and couldn’t be found, police said.

Rescue crews from the Mount Clemens, Harrison Township and Shelby Township fire departments as well as the Macomb County Sheriff’s Dive Team searched the river. They found Traylor and transported him to an area hospital, but medical staff was unable to revive him, according to police.

Other officers arrived and took Elko’s statement. “The next day, I had to report (to his parole agent, Hope Hunter), and tell them I’d had a contact with police.”

During Thursday’s brief ceremony, Macomb County Sheriff’s Sgt. Ronald Murphy shook Elko’s hand and said: “I’m not sure many people are willing to put their life on the line for other people the way you did. Thank you.”

Elko replied: “It’s just weird getting a pat on the back from police, instead of a pat-down.

“The last time I was in this room, I was being taken to jail,” Elko said, adding he’s trying to turn his life around while struggling with drug addiction. He said he’s working a factory job, adding that his boss gave him a $1-per-hour raise after hearing how he’d likely saved the boy’s life.

“I know that prison saved my life,” he said. “I was on a real bad road. Everyone has demons. (Parolees) aren’t all bad people. A lot of us are drug addicts; that’s my problem. I’m a drug addict.”

Hunter said Elko had “a few bumps in the road early on,” but added he’s headed in the right direction.

“He has accepted that he has an addiction, and said he wants to change,” she said. “Originally he didn’t even want drug treatment because he didn’t think he needed it. Now, he facilitates our outpatient treatment group.”

Elko’s parole is scheduled to end in August, but Hunter said officials have discussed releasing him early, which would be up to the Parole Board.

Hunter added she hoped Elko’s actions will help people understand that everyone deserves a second chance.

“Hopefully this will show the community that (parolees) are not just what their record says they are.”

ghunter@detroitnews.com

(313) 222-2134

Twitter: @GeorgeHunter_DN