A son honors his mother, the 'Buccaneer Hero' of Beaufort
Thanks to Paul Koutroulakis of Columbia for sharing a story from his childhood in Beaufort.
He wrote it after reminiscing a few weeks ago after a visit to Beaufort to see his father, Dr. Sam Koutroulakis.
It's about his mother, May C. Koutroulakis, part of a family that holds an interesting place in Beaufort lore.
In 1935, May's father, Harry Chakides, opened the Ritz Cafe on Bay Street.
Later, her brother, also Harry Chakides, renovated it in 1960 and reopened it as Harry's Restaurant. It was a popular gathering place for locals, written about by Pat Conroy and the High Sheriff of the Lowcountry, J. Edwin McTeer.
The younger Harry opened the John Cross Tavern on the second floor of his building in 1973. It too became legendary, and a tavern by that name is said to have been a part of the Beaufort scene since the 18th century.
Harry's closed in the late 1990s, and the John Cross Tavern closed in 2007.
'The Buccaneer Hero'
By Paul Koutroulakis
I don't clearly remember exactly how old I was, but my memory of this event is crystal clear.
I think I was about 9 years old when this happened, so that would put us back to the summer of 1970. It happened at the Buccaneer Motel, which was on the site of today's Econo Lodge Suites on Boundary Street.
It was a hot day in Beaufort, so my mother had taken me, my brother Harry and my two friends Jay and Scott Dennis to the Buccaneer's pool. There were no lifeguards, so my mother would always bring a book and keep one eye on us.
There were a lot of people at the pool that day. One kid about 4 or 5 years old was walking around playing with an inner tube. People were laying out in the sun, and a Marine was teaching someone how to do flips off the diving board. I was particularly interested in the Marine as he was doing multiple flips from the diving board.
As I was holding onto the side of the pool watching him, Scott said, "Hey! There is a kid at the bottom of the pool!"
My mother jumped up and told Harry and Jay to get him. When they brought him to the surface, my mother reached down with one arm and pulled the kid up to the concrete and immediately started CPR.
It was the boy playing with the inner tube. He must have fallen in and couldn't swim. Nobody saw it happen.
The Marine was ready to do CPR, but my mother had already started CPR before he was there. The boy's lips were blue, and he was pale and rubbery. The boy finally spewed up water, started coughing and then started crying.
My mother held him close until the ambulance came and took him away as he complained about a headache (probably from being lifted by his hair).
When we left the pool and dropped off our friends at home, we went to see my father at work. When my mother saw him, she broke out in tears as the day's event had a chance to sink in.
The next day, my mother received some flowers from the Buccaneer Motel with a nice note. I don't know what it said, but if it were written by me, it would say:
"Dear Mrs. Koutroulakis, please accept these flowers in recognition of your instinctive act of heroism as you saved the life of a 5-year-old boy yesterday ..."
In memory of May C. Koutroulakis
Jan. 18, 1933 -- June 23, 2004
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This story was originally published September 27, 2014 at 4:00 PM with the headline "A son honors his mother, the 'Buccaneer Hero' of Beaufort."