photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Maddox Westerhaus, second from right, and Thomas Westerhaus, third from right, were honored in 2022 by Lawrence first responders for saving 4-year-old Xzavier Rigney from drowning over the summer. Xzavier is at center with his mother, Alexis Rigney. John Mathis, Nick Simon, Rob Fleeup and Kevin Joles, all with Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical, surround the families, left to right.

At a time when a child needed a hero, Thomas Westerhaus was there to help him.

During the summer of 2022, Westerhaus was alerted by his son, Maddox, that there was a small child floating in a pool at a Lawrence apartment complex all alone, and rushed to get his father to help. Thomas jumped over the fence, pulled the child — a 4-year-old boy — out of the pool and helped save his life, earning a commendation from Lawrence police and firefighters, as the Journal-World reported.

Now, Westerhaus, 37, and his family are hoping for heroes of their own — and the rest of the Lawrence community has been looking to step up to try to provide support.

Westerhaus has been battling cancer for around 10 years, going through multiple rounds of chemotherapy and invasive surgeries, including one last year that led to him becoming paralyzed — limiting his mobility and making him reliant on ride services to get to his doctor appointments.

Because of this limitation of movement and financial strain caused by the illness, a GoFundMe was set up for Westerhaus and his family on Jan. 6, specifically to allow the family to purchase a wheelchair van that can accommodate his chair and give him more freedom to help support his family.

As of Friday evening, the GoFundMe has received $30,895 in donations, making it around $9,000 short of its goal. Westerhaus said the community support has meant a lot to him and his family during this trying time.

“It’s really joyful to see everyone — even strangers helping me out,” Westerhaus said.

SPRINGING INTO ACTION

It was quick thinking and quick movements that ended up saving a life on May 18, 2022.

Alexis Rigney, the mother of 4-year-old Xzavier Rigney, who Westerhaus saved from drowning, previously told the Journal-World that on that day, she went to check on her son but suddenly couldn’t find him in his room. She said she did not think that, Xzavier, who has autism and is nonverbal, could get out of the home by himself, but when she noticed the apartment’s door was open she went running outside.

In surveillance video, you can see no one inside the pool area until Xzavier comes running into view and drops into the pool, where he is struggling. That’s when, according to authorities, Maddox noticed Xzavier floating in the pool and went to get his dad to help. Westerhaus jumped the locked fence, pulled the unresponsive child from the pool and administered life-saving aid, with paramedics reporting that Xzavier was breathing and alert when they arrived.

Going back through the events of that day, Westerhaus said he had just had a surgery that removed his lung and piece of aorta about a month before he rescued Xzavier. According to the GoFundMe page, Westerhaus was “still bearing the stitches from (his) intensive and life altering surgery,” but he still jumped in to rescue him.

The day that Westerhaus and Maddox received their recognition for saving Xzavier’s life from the Lawrence first responders on May 26, Westerhaus told the Journal-World seeing the 4-year-old just lying in the water forced him into action, and “the rest was just a blur.”

Rigney also said at the time she was so thankful Xzavier was ok, saying “he is my best friend, and I don’t know what I would do without him.”

photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Thomas Westerhaus, left, and Maddox Westerhaus hold their Hometown Hero certificates Thursday at Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical headquarters. The two were honored for saving a 4-year-old from drowning at a Lawrence apartment complex.

FACING HIS OWN BATTLE

Years after his life-saving actions, Westerhaus was again facing a life-and-death battle in 2025.

Westerhaus has been battling cancer for around 10 years total, when he was first diagnosed with testicular cancer around 2016 or 2017, he told the Journal-World. Even with various rounds of chemotherapy and invasive surgeries, the cancer metastasized and spread throughout his body, including spreading to one of his lungs and a piece of his aorta, and he had surgery to remove those in 2022.

In 2025, Westerhaus had learned the cancer was back and had spread to his spine. Doctors said he needed surgery to remove it from his spine before it became fatal, but it would lead to paralysis.

“It was a tough decision to make,” Westerhaus said. “But when it comes down to it, I wanted to be around for my family.”

Westerhaus is now cancer-free but dealing with new realities due to his limited mobility. He said the nurses and staff at LMH Oncology have been incredibly helpful throughout his treatment, and his wife, Michelle and his son have “stepped right up” to help him adjust to the changes.

“It’s been a true blessing to have them here,” Westerhaus said.

photo by: Screenshot from GoFundMe

Thomas Westerhaus (left) with his wife Michelle (center) and son Maddox.

Westerhaus said his mother and brother also live in the area and have been able to provide some support, but the medical expenses and loss of income due to the illness have had a serious impact on the family. It’s also impacted him and his family in other ways. Being paralyzed has meant it has been harder for him to do some of his favorite activities like fishing and being in nature with his family. Additionally, Westerhaus said he has missed out on getting to family gatherings or cross country meets for Maddox, now a sophomore at Lawrence High School, because he was unable to get a ride.

“(It’s) really hard to be stuck inside all day,” Westerhaus said.

Despite the difficulties of the situation, Westerhaus said he has been able to lean on his wife during the hard times, and he has gotten some new hobbies — Westerhaus said that he has been reading the Game of Thrones series and plans to watch the TV show, and also has liked reading novels by Frederick Forsyth.

But while that has kept his spirit going, having a wheelchair van would make the family’s life a lot easier and allow him to get to more events that would be “huge” for his family.

“It would give me a chance to get back out and help … even little things like going shopping,” Westerhaus said.

With the GoFundMe getting closer to its goal, Westerhaus is appreciative of how much support he has received throughout his battle with cancer. He said even though he knows people are struggling during this time, having the community raise over $30,000 to help his family brings him hope — giving them a heroic lift.

“I am just really thankful for the outpouring of support from the community,” Westerhaus said.

photo by: Contributed/Thomas Westerhaus

Thomas Westerhaus using his powered wheelchair.