Angelo and his children were living in a small town called Rosewood. It had a bad reputation due to a tragic incident that happened at the nearby lake 30 years ago.
But Angelo never paid attention to the rumors about the lake and he would often visit it with his children. But soon he would regret not listening to the local community...
The Day Of
One day, Angelo and his two children decided to go to the lake for a swim. The weather was hot and the water was cool.
They thought they would have a good time splashing in the water and sunbathing. But they had no idea what was waiting for them.
In The Water
Angelo slowly made his way to the water until it covered his entire body. It felt so good being in the lake.
He started swimming across the lake and soon he found himself far away from his two kids.
A Strange Object
As Angelo relaxed in the water, he felt something brush past his left leg. At first, he thought it was a fish or sea plant.
But as the strange object hit his leg again, it became apparent to him that something just wasn't right.
Not A Fish
It wasn't a fish. It was something much bigger.
Angelo looked below and saw a bunch of algae flowing next to him. He brushed against it with his hand but the feeling was different. So what was it then?
A Tiny Foot
Angelo reached for the object and brought it up to the surface. He screamed when he realized what he was holding in his hand.
It was a tiny foot. The little girl was still alive but unconscious.
Rescuing The Girl
Angelo pulled the little girl out from the water and screamed for anyone who could hear him. "Someone, call 911!" he yelled.
“I grabbed her and carried her limp body to the shore,” he recalled.
Saved
The paramedics arrived just in time when he reached the shore and took the girl to the hospital.
But would she make it?
Recollections
“I saw just the bottom of her feet and then right then at that moment, that became my child, I reached in, and I pulled her out like I would any of my babies,” Angelo said.
But who was she? And where were her parents?
Sitali Hernandez
The girl he had saved was three-year-old Sitali Hernandez. She suffered hypothermia and her lungs were filled with lake water, which worried the doctors.
They couldn't tell how long her brain had been without oxygen.
Emma Hernandez
When her mother, Emma Hernandez, received the call from the hospital about her daughter, she rushed to be by her side.
“Her lungs are good, her heartbeat is good. Everything is good,” Emma told USA Today. But where was she when her child almost drowned?
"Thank You!"
Emma and Angelo met at the hospital where her daughter was being treated. She thanked him for saving her daughter.
“…There are no words… no words… how much I can thank you!” she said.
An Emotional Moment
“You saved her… you saved my baby!” she gasped. Then, she told Angelo that her daughter wanted to meet her savior.
“I can’t wait to see her, she’s part of our family now…you guys are part of our family now,” Angelo said with tears in his eyes.
A Hero
“If I was not in that right spot at the right time, it could have been a search and rescue mission,” Angelo told USA Today.
“It felt like something you normally wouldn’t feel in the water."
Raising Awareness
“I did sort of a back kick to bring up whatever it was. Then I saw the bottom of a baby’s foot float up. As I told the little girl’s mom when I saw the baby’s toes, that became my baby.”
Angelo is now working with local businesses to collect life vests from children. “The baby was not wearing a life vest." he said.