A four-year-old brother jumped in the pool to save her toddler sister from drowning. Their mom enrolled her toddler in a swimming class after the incident so she could save her life if she fell in the water again.
Mommy Laura Forrester took precautions to safeguard their kids from the backyard pool when she moved into their new home.
The precautions included a safety fence and the stern instruction not to go there without an adult or babysitter. They also installed beeps on the door, the mom said.
Despite her best efforts, the two-year-old Andie fell into the pool while her mom was not around. The little girl struggled to stay afloat. Luckily, her brother Gray saw her sister drowning and jumped into the pool to save her sister.
The now five-year-old Gray said that his sister was doggy padding. So he grabbed her tummy and tried to lift her so she could breathe, Knoxville NBC Station reports.
Andie said her brother saved her.
The two-year-old then walked up to her mom, telling her that she had fallen into the pool. Her mom panicked when she saw Andie and her brother Gray soaking wet. She said it happened so fast that she was with the kids less than five minutes earlier.
Mommy Laura said she thinks that what happened to Andie was a miracle, adding that at that moment, for a four-year-old to react like what Gray did was a "God thing."
Lessons from another drowning incident
Laura shared that when she moved in, it was also the time when Olympic skier Bode Miller and his wife Morgan lost their daughter to a drowning incident, making her more cautious.
She said the heaviness lingered in her mind and heart. Hence, she set all the precautions to keep their kids from drowning. Still, the incident happened, Today reports.
The mom shared that the incident made her realize that it could happen to anyone. She enrolled her two-year-old daughter in a swimming class after the incident.
Swimming class for toddlers
The mom enrolled her daughter in Swim N Float, a six-week course that kids can go Monday through Thursday every day for six weeks. By the end of it, they can save themselves,
Camilla Hepner, the owner, and instructor of Swim n Float, says that at the beginning, the kids are upset and crying in the water. In the end, she says we see tears of amazement with what the kids can do.
The Swim n Float said they test the kids in more of a real-life situation. Usually, when kids fall into the pool, it is when nobody is in the pool. When WBIR saw how Andie was doing in her swimming class, she was swimming in the pool fully dressed in cloth, shoes, and even diapers. Camille said she passed, and it was so amazing.
Laura said she is sharing her story to raise awareness about the drowning. She tells parents who live near bodies of water like pools, lakes, or the sea they should consider signing up for swimming classes because no matter what precautions parents take, it can still happen. Teaching kids how to swim can save their life.
