Amber Uhler survived a childhood drowning and now advocates for water safety through education and prevention efforts
She tells PEOPLE about a harrowing experience that prompted her to get CPR-certified and educated on water safety matters
Uhler created a "Water Watcher" card to help adults stay focused on supervising children around water
When Amber Uhler was five years old, she got away from her father during a family fishing trip and fell into a nearby lake. She remembers sinking beneath the waves and the "murky green water" as she fell farther and farther into the lake's depths.

She calls it her first "cinematic memory," speaking exclusively with PEOPLE. "The last thought I had before I went unconscious was that my dad's going to be so mad because I didn't do what he said."

Uhler was lucky that her brother saw her dropping beneath the waves from about 30 yards away, and he was able to find her in the cloudy lake water.

"I'm so highly aware that that is not the usual ending to that story," she says.
Uhler will represent the pageant on Aug. 27.
Credit: Amber Uhler/Instagram

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