If I saw someone’s child in need of help, I would help them. It’s not to get in the way of a parent, but because it’s the right thing to do. However, what happens when your good deed leads to an altercation instead? This is what happened to a mom in Michigan when she saw another parent’s child drowning and decided to save their life. TikTok user healthybutno posted a video, recalling her experience of saving a drowning child. It was captioned, “I rescued a little boy from drowning, and his mom cussed me out.“
Ashley (@healthybutno) goes on to say she was at the beach with her family. While they were in the water, she noticed a mom with her two kids, who was occupied with a book. Her two children got in the water and were throwing a ball back and forth, and moving deeper in. Being a certified lifeguard for almost two decades, Ashley said she naturally “made a mental note to keep track of the kids in the water.” So, in other words, her Spider-sense.
It’s a good thing she did, because she soon noticed one of the young boys swam into deeper water, into a no-swimming area. Even worse, he was actively drowning. With her 1-year-old child in her arms, Ashley handed her child to her husband and jumped into action. She calls out to the child’s mom but, unfortunately, she doesn’t hear her and continues reading. She then recalls she had about a “minute and 30 seconds” to reach the child before drowning does irreversible brain damage. On her way to reach the child, she sees he’s completely underwater. There’s no chance he’ll make it back up on his own.
At this point, the mother is still preoccupied. In fact, she wasn’t aware of the near-drowning until Ashley is walking towards her with her son. Instead of thanking her for saving her child’s life, she actually started to yell and curse at Ashley, “You should not be touching my son.” Ashley tries to explain herself but the mom doesn’t believe it until she hears it out of her own son’s mouth.
Other commenters shared their similar experiences in situations like this. One commenter said, “Spent 8 years as a beach lifeguard in California. The amount of parents who have cussed me out for saving their children is insane. They think our intervention is a personal attack on their parenting.”
Another shared an equally as upsetting story, “I jumped in fully clothed and rescued a little boy from the bottom of the pool. His dad walked up with a fresh beer from the bar, shrugged and said, ‘dads deserve holidays too.’ Yes sir, and your son deserves to be alive.”
Others pointed out that, as a parent, they would have a hard time taking their eyes off of their children while they’re swimming. Even if they’re good swimmers, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
