FORT MYERS, Fla.(WSVN) — An 11-year-old girl’s family is expressing their gratitude after a good Samaritan rescued her from a lake in Fort Myers.
Mia Garcia described the moment she was collecting shells with her little sister at Lakes Park when she slipped into the water, at around 10 a.m. on Saturday.
“I felt like an alligator was going to come swim to me and drag me under the water,” said Garcia.
Garcia’s grandmother, Dawn Louchart, said her granddaughter, who is on the autism spectrum, knows how to swim, but the conditions in the lake made it difficult.
“She couldn’t get out because it was so slimy,” said Louchart.
After struggling to get out on her own, Garcia did another thing her family taught her to do when she needs help.
“We taught her at a young age to scream, and she started screaming for us, and she needed help that she couldn’t get out,” said Louchard.
Garcia’s screams for help caught the ears of Bridgett Addison, who was at a nearby pavillion and jumped into action.
“When I looked over, I saw her in the water, so I just ran,” said Addison.
Addison said she doesn’t know how to swim herself, but she wasn’t thinking about that as she jumped in the water to help.
“I was able to get her and, like, get her, like, sling her up so she won’t be where the slimy part, to get her out of the embankment. But I kept falling down, the grandma kept falling down, and that’s how I got skinned all up,” said Addison.
Addison said the scratches she got were more than worth it, knowing that she helped a little girl live to see another day.
“I don’t care who they are — what color, what their disability, I don’t care — if you can do it, go and help somebody. That’s my only thing,” she said.
Garcia’s grandmother expressed her heartfelt gratitude for saving the young girl.
“It shows a lot, that there are good people out there, and she is one of them,” said Louchart.
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