I’ve always loved swimming in rivers and lakes, but when my toes touch something slimy on the bottom or a piece of seaweed wraps around my leg, it’s enough to make me squirm, even though I know I’m not in danger.
But when a 32-year-old plumber named Angelo Mondragon from Colorado felt something on his leg, it was a whole different story.
It was just another Sunday at the lake with his family for Angelo Mondragon – until he felt something strange brush up against his leg underwater.
“It felt like something you normally wouldn’t feel in the water,” Angelo told the Coloradoan.
He pushed the object to the surface and saw something that no one should ever find underwater: a young child.
“The baby’s toes surfaced. I saw the bottom of her feet surface and that right then at that moment that became my child. I was yelling, screaming, terrified. So I sounded very terrified but I felt an amazing calm.”
Angelo brought 4-year-old Sitali Hernandez to the shore. The little girl was lifeless and turning blue, and Angelo shouted for help.
Fortunately, there were two nurses at the beach, who immediately started performing CPR on Sitali.
The little girl was rushed to a nearby hospital and then transferred to a children’s hospital.
The following day, Angelo was given the chance to visit Sitali at the hospital.
Sitali’s mother was extremely grateful.
“There’s no words how much I can thank you. You saved her. You saved my baby,” she told Angelo during the tearful reunion, according to PEOPLE.
Angelo will forever have a powerful bond with the little girl he saved that day at the beach.
Even though everything ended well, the incident could have been avoided if the girl had worn a life vest.
Angelo was the first to understand this. In fact, he was so moved by the incident that he decided to partner with some local businesses to give life jackets to people who can’t afford them.
This really gives me hope for mankind. Angelo not only saved Sitali’s life, but his amazing initiative will also save more children who can’t swim.
Only 3 days after her almost-tragic accident, the little girl was home bouncing on a trampoline in her backyard with her siblings.
“She’s really strong, she’s really strong,” said Hernandez. “Her lungs are good, her heartbeat is good. Everything is good.”
Watch a news story about the rescue here:
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