Ark City mother dies saving son from drowning; family remembers her passion

COWLEY COUNTY, Kan. (KSNW) — Family members of Sarah Ouellet are grieving the mother of four’s loss. Sarah died while trying to save her son from drowning in a creek in Cowley County on Saturday.

Several members of Sarah’s family, including her former husband, Daniel Ouellet, said she had a passion for raising her four children.

Daniel said after they experienced the loss of their four-year-old son to an unknown illness, she would’ve done anything to protect their kids.

“She was always by my side; she did everything with me,” said Daniel and Sarah’s daughter, Isla.

“It’s been hard to process the last few days,” said Daniel.

Daniel and Sarah were high school sweethearts, they shared four kids together.

Isla witnessed the accident and called him in tears.

“It was just surreal; she had told me that Maddox had fallen into the creek, and mom was lying next to the creek, and she wasn’t breathing,” said Daniel.

Daniel said Sarah would do anything to not feel the pain of losing another child, jumping into the creek, with their son Maddox in distress.

“You live with that as a parent losing a child for the rest of your life; you’re always overprotective, you’re more protective; I think that she just wasn’t going to let it happen again, and she went all or nothing,” said Daniel.

Maddox was pulled to safety, but his mom did not survive the rescue.

Sarah’s sister, Taylor Kanelakos, remembers her as someone who put others first.

“She was just Sarah, that’s really all I can say, she was just Sarah, she was always smiling, she always made sure everyone was happy and having fun,” said Kanelakos.

Daniel said the family has peace knowing she’s reunited with her son Paxton.

“We know that she’s up there now watching over this, and that’s comforting to know. Her and Paxton are together again. I’m sure that they’re both just loving it,” said Daniel.

Maddox is recovering and is going to be OK after being checked at the hospital.

Daniel said it’s been tough on all his kids to understand what happened to their mom.

He said they are left planning their funeral. After that, they will decide where to begin the next chapter of their life. He says, Sarah would want her kids to start their next adventure.

Family members have started a GoFundMe for Sarah’s funeral as well as her kids’ future.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSN-TV.