A brave 4-year-old boy saves his baby sister from drowning.
Although their mother, Laura Forrester, was sure she took all the proper safeguards for the backyard pool, you can never be 100% sure nothing bad would happen. She told WBIR, Knoxville:
“We installed the safety fence and the kids knew never to go out there without an adult or babysitter. We installed beeps on the doors. We thought we had taken all the precautions.”
Laura shared that when they first moved into their home, it was right around the time Olympic skier Bode Miller lost his daughter in a similar drowning incident.
This made her use all the security measures she could for the pool.
“It was heavy on my mind and heavy on my heart. We had hammered it in their heads that they never go out there without a grown-up.”
Unfortunately, the mother’s efforts to make the pool area safer with all the precautions needed weren’t enough. Unexpectedly, her 2-year-old daughter Andie managed to get around the security measures.
While her mom wasn’t looking, little Andie fell right into the pool. She struggled to stay afloat.
Luckily her older brother was there to save her. Garry, then 4, jumped to save his baby sister.
Here’s how he told the story:
“She was doggy paddling … I grabbed her tummy. I was trying to lift her so she could breathe.”
Andie said her brother was able to get her out of the pool. She was grateful that her brother was there to save her. Laura was shocked.
“Andie walked up and said, ‘I falled in the pool! I falled in the pool!’ She was soaking wet and I looked at Gray and he was soaking wet and I just panicked. It happened so fast because they had just been with me not even five minutes ago.”
She strongly believes that what happened to her little girl was a pure miracle. She feels like this was a God thing, having in mind that it’s unusual for a 4-year-old to react so fast and to successfully save his drowning sister.
Laura immediately enrolled her baby daughter in swim lessons after the scary incident. Now, little Andie can save herself in case something similar happens.
Hopefully, after other parents see and hear Laura’s story, they will put more effort into protecting their children.
“If people hear this story and they live close to the water, the lake or a pool or whatever, consider signing up for (swim) class because no matter what precautions you take, it can still happen.”
