NEED TO KNOW
- A woman who cannot swim helped save an 11-year-old girl from drowning at a Florida park
- Days later, the two reunited for the very first time and exchanged a hug and cards
- Bridgett Addison said she does not feel like a hero, but Mia Garcia insisted that “she is”
An 11-year-old girl has reunited with the woman who saved her from drowning at a Florida park.
Mia Garcia, who has autism, previously said she was collecting shells at Lakes Park in Fort Myers on Saturday, Sept. 6, when she slipped into the water around 10 a.m. local time, according to NBC affiliate WBBH-TV.
That’s when a bystander, Bridgett Addison, leaped into action despite not knowing how to swim. “I looked over I saw her in the water. So I just ran,” she said at the time.
Luckily, Addison was able to help Garcia reach an embankment, getting “skinned up” by rocks along the way.
Days later, Garcia and Addison reunited for the first time since the rescue, according to a separate report from WBBH-TV.
The two shared a warm embrace as Addison, who brought Garcia balloons and a stuffed animal, broke down in tears.
“I’m so happy to know you’re okay!” Addison told Garcia through tears in a moment captured by the local station.
The pair then exchanged hand-written cards with each other. In her card to Addison, Garcia wrote “Thank you isn’t enough for what you did” alongside a drawing of the two of them holding hands.
In her card to Garcia, Addison said, “I wanted you to know how very special you are. Continue being the beautiful person God has created you to be.”
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Admittedly, Addison said she does not feel like a hero, despite the praise she has received for her actions. “I feel like if you see anybody in distress, help them,” she told WBBH-TV.
But Garcia feels otherwise. “She is a hero, she just is,” the 11-year-old said. “[She] probably doesn’t see that.”
