Stranger Saved Little Girl from Drowning and Wonders If He Сould've Been Faster

A man chilling in a café noticed a small girl on the pool steps screaming, “She’s drowning.” He thought she pranked and ignored her. But his instinct forced him to rush to the spot and check out.

Redditor FlippantTransmitter and his friend were at a café on a Saturday. The place had a small pool, offering pretty much to their weekend outing. As they sipped their drinks, a family with two small girls, presumably aged five, walked in.

The Original Poster (OP) and his friend were in the pool. A woman he thought worked there occupied the area with the child-proof gate. Moments later, she got out to get a drink. The OP and his friend left the place to have lunch around the same time.

The woman returned to the pool area while the two girls followed her. The OP saw their mother and grandmother inside the café. He explained:

“I barely noticed because these things are not really on my radar...Anyway, one of them came and said hello, and I got back to talking to my friend.”

He then looked at one of the girls screaming, “She’s drowning, she’s drowning.” At first glance, he assumed the two girls were playing and didn’t bother. However, his instinct warned him of potential danger.

“That thought was almost immediately followed by the realization they weren’t, so I jumped up and raced into the pool,” he explained. The OP pulled the little girl out of the water, and it was only then her family came rushing out. He detailed, saying:

“They start yelling at the woman who let them into the pool area, saying she shouldn’t have let them in.”

The woman yelled back at the family that they should watch their kids. The OP thought it made sense on both sides. He was still processing the rescue when the family turned towards him angrily.

They argued the OP and his friend didn’t get up to save their girl on time until they saw them coming. Their accusations piled up to a point where he thought enough was enough.

Some people guaranteed the girl he saved from drowning would be grateful to him.

The OP claimed the girl was okay only because he saved her on time. Moments later, he approached the family and apologized though he knew it wasn’t his fault. To his surprise, the family was still enraged.

“I keep thinking about how horribly wrong it could have gone if I didn’t realize when I did. Yet they shouted at me for not acting faster,” he explained. He turned to social media to seek advice as he couldn’t fathom being blamed for his good deed.

After reading his post, several people on the Reddit forum praised the OP for his timely rescue. Some advised him to be glad for saving the girl than worrying about the family’s accusations. User aquietconfusion wrote:

“The parent was on the defensive because she was upset. She KNEW she was in the wrong. People do this all the time. They deflect blame.”

“Thank you. It was traumatic, and that’s great advice for how to think about it,” the OP said. Meanwhile, another person recalled a similar incident and how grateful they were to the woman who saved them from drowning. The person explained:

“I almost drowned in a hotel pool when I was about six years old. My parents were nearby but couldn’t see me from their angle by the pool. A woman thankfully saw my wild flailing and pulled me out of the water.”

Some people guaranteed the girl he saved from drowning would be grateful to him. Others advised the OP that the girl’s mom could’ve turned on him because she was scared of being blamed for ignorance.

After rummaging through the responses, the OP claimed both he and the girl’s parents were not wrong though the circumstance made it appear so.

“I’m so glad I shared this story. It helped me process what happened. Cheers!” the OP said and thanked everyone for being supportive.

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