A broken-down boat beached in the middle of nowhere on Flaming Gorge Reservoir in southwest Wyoming coupled with piercing cold driving rain put a 3-year-old’s life in peril.

The actions of a Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office deputy late on the night and early morning of July 20 - 21, 2010, not only saved the boy, but created a memory that for 15 years has resonated with him and his family.

That’s culminating in a special reunion this month that will mark a salient transition for both rescuer and the rescued, and the importance of that life-changing moment.

When David Lew walks with the Rock Springs High School Class of 2025 to get his diploma May 27, Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Detective Sgt. Jeff Sheaman plans to be the one to give it to him — at Lew’s request.