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<p>FAIRMOUNT TWP. &#8212; Jacob Bobersky doesn&#8217;t like to talk about it much &#8212; how he saved his father&#8217;s life.</p><p>Jacob, now 11, was just 10 years old when an evening fishing outing on Lake Silkworth in October nearly turned tragic.</p><p>It&#8217;s a heroic story of how this kid managed to set aside his racing heart, his inner fears and his deep concern for his dad to remain calm, focus on what was going on right in front of his eyes and then, as he says, do what he had to do.</p><p>Jacob, who is in the fifth grade at Holy Family School in Berwick, and his dad told me the story as we sat around a big table in the family home, which doubles as The Old Tioga Inn Bed &amp; Breakfast on Route 118.</p><p>Jacob and his dad, Mike, were kayaking on Lake Silkworth on Oct. 12 &#8212; Columbus Day. It was something the father and son did many times before without incident.</p><p>But this fishing outing would be different, much different, and it would be one Jacob and his dad would remember forever.</p><p>Mike said the evening was going well. He remembers it being a little windy. He hooked a fish and reeled it into his kayak as Jacob watched from his position about 25 yards away.</p><p>Mike leaned over to reach for the fish, shifting his weight. The kayak tipped and Mike went in the water. The top two buckles on his life jacket were unbuckled, he said, because he had an asthma attack earlier and had loosened the jacket to make breathing easier. When the kayak tipped, it rolled over. Mike was in trouble.</p><p>Mike was wearing a lot of heavy clothing &#8212; sweat pants and a hoodie. He could feel himself sinking. He tried to hang on but the kayak was submerged. The life jacket had raised up over Mike&#8217;s head and he was afraid it would fall off. The fishing line had wrapped around Mike, further hindering his attempt to stay above water.</p><p>Watching all of this was Jacob, who was already paddling his kayak over to see the fish his dad had caught. Jacob yelled to his dad, asking if he was alright.</p><p>&#8220;I saw him come up, so I thought he was OK at first,&#8221; Jacob said. &#8220;Then he told me that I&#8217;d better come over.&#8221;</p><p>Jacob got scared &#8212; his heart was racing and he was worried. But he never lost his focus. He paddled faster. When he got to his dad, he grabbed the fishing pole and told his father to grab the back of his kayak. Mike latched onto it and Jacob paddled to the nearest shoreline.</p><p>Jacob helped his father to land and made sure he was OK. He then went back and retrieved the kayak, towing it to shore.</p><p>Once on shore and certain all was well, Jacob even landed the fish &#8212; a 17-inch large-mouth bass the family ate for dinner the next day.</p><p>Jacob said he put his fears and worries aside and was determined to get to his dad and help him.</p><p>Mike was impressed at how calm Jacob remained through the whole ordeal.</p><p>&#8220;He never flinched,&#8221; Mike said.</p><p>Jacob has been a Cub Scout since kindergarten, where he learned life-saving techniques. He said he was prepared for this day.</p><p>I asked Jacob if he was surprised by the way he handled things on that October day, about one month shy of his 11th birthday.</p><p>&#8220;Yeah, I guess I was a little surprised,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I never thought anything like that would ever happen.&#8221;</p><p>Jacob&#8217;s mom, Laura, was in the family&#8217;s cottage on Lake Silkworth with her daughter, Janessa, 6, when Jacob ran in and headed straight for the bathroom. Laura said she didn&#8217;t think much about it, noting Jacob often ran into the cottage. Jacob ran to get his father&#8217;s inhaler to help stabilize his breathing.</p><p>Laura said Jacob never said anything about what had happened on the lake, but, she said, that&#8217;s Jacob. So she asked Mike when he got to the cottage.</p><p>&#8220;I told her that if it wasn&#8217;t for Jacob, I wouldn&#8217;t be here right now,&#8221; Mike said.</p><p>He was right. There were no other boats on Lake Silkworth that night. Nobody was around. Yelling for help was not an option. Nobody would hear.</p><p>It was all on 10-year-old Jacob. Only he could be there for his dad. And he was.</p><p>Jacob still isn&#8217;t comfortable talking about that night. He doesn&#8217;t think of himself as a hero, despite being recognized as such by the Lake Silkworth Volunteer Fire Co. and state Rep. Karen Boback, who delivered a citation from the House of Representatives.</p><p>&#8220;I just did what I had to do,&#8221; Jacob said.</p><p>Jacob is just a kid who likes to play football with his buddies and eat pizza &#8212; any pizza. He hasn&#8217;t even thought about what he will do when he grows up. He enjoys watching River Monsters on TV.</p><p>A special education teacher, Mike calls his son&#8217;s actions &#8220;amazing&#8221; and said he would never have been able to do what Jacob did when he was his age.</p><p>Mike and Jacob haven&#8217;t been kayaking since and they won&#8217;t ever go when temperatures drop and the water gets cold.</p><p>On that October night, after life seemingly returned to normal, Mike turned to Jacob and said, &#8220;Thank you.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Him staying calm kept me calm,&#8221; Mike said.</p><p>Then, 6-year-old Janessa showed me the brown trout she caught.</p><p>&#8220;Santa mounted it for me,&#8221; she said.</p><p>Jacob laughed. We all laughed. Jacob seemed delighted we were no longer talking about him.</p><p>After all, like Jacob said, he only did what he had to.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Mike Bobersky discusses how his son Jacob, 11, rescued him from drowning during a kayaking trip on Lake Silkworth in October 2015. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_TTL012816TTLBobersky2-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Mike Bobersky discusses how his son Jacob, 11, rescued him from drowning during a kayaking trip on Lake Silkworth in October 2015. </caption0><photoCredit0>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_TTL012816TTLBobersky3-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Jacob Bobersky, 11, sits by the citation issued to him by state Rep. Karen Boback for his courageous act of saving his father from drowning during a kayaking trip on Lake Silkworth in October 2015. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_TTL012816TTLBobersky3-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Jacob Bobersky, 11, sits by the citation issued to him by state Rep. Karen Boback for his courageous act of saving his father from drowning during a kayaking trip on Lake Silkworth in October 2015. </caption1><photoCredit1>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_Oboyle_Bill-2-1-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Bill O&#8217;Boyle </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_Oboyle_Bill-2-1-1.jpg</photo2><caption2>Bill O&#8217;Boyle </caption2><photoCredit2>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_TTL012816TTLBobersky1-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Jacob Bobersky, 11, talks about the heroic moment when he saved his father Mike, left, from drowning during a kayaking trip on Lake Silkworth in October 2015. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_TTL012816TTLBobersky1-1.jpg</photo3><caption3>Jacob Bobersky, 11, talks about the heroic moment when he saved his father Mike, left, from drowning during a kayaking trip on Lake Silkworth in October 2015. </caption3><photoCredit3>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Jacob Bobersky helped save his father while kayaking</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Bill O&#8217;Boyle</p><p>boboyle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Bill O&#8217;Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

In Focus: Jacob Bobersky faced his fears to rescue his father