Mecklenburg Co., VA - Some vacationers in Mecklenburg County are being credited with helping save a young girl from drowning Sunday.

11-year-old Kamilya Reavis of Chase City was playing with a friend at Rudd's Creek Park, part of Buggs Island Lake, when she went under and didn't come back up.

Several people jumped in to rescue Kamilya. And now they are praying for her to survive.

Elizabeth Rodriguez took her four kids to the lake Sunday. Before going in, she asked the attendant if the water was safe. She says he told her it was. But not long after, Kamilya went underwater.

Rodriguez says her husband was one of the men to help pull her out. She's upset because she says Kamilya could have easily been one of her kids. Park officials say they don't normally close swimming areas due to high water levels, and that life jackets are always available, free of charge.

"If there was an issue with safety at all and other beaches were closed, we place our confidence and the safety of our children and ourselves in these peoples hands they're supposed to know whether the water is safe or not," Rodriguez said.

Chief Ranger Sherrie Storm said, "It's safer for them to swim in our swim areas where there's access to a telephone and life jackets and clear debris than it is to just jump in some random spot on the lake to get wet."

Kamilya is at MCV in intensive care. Her mother says she told her daughter to stay in the shallow end but her daughter didn't listen. She says she regrets not keeping a closer eye on her.

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