A Secret Life of Mom Highlight Story: Sometimes there are stories that are just too memorable, too beautiful, or too touching to keep locked away. That’s why we scour the archives and bring some of them back to experience again. They may make you smile or shed a tear, but they’re always meant to add a little something to your day.
Not all heroes wear capes. Some of them might even war overalls and carry an apron filled with various-sized ranches. For one little girl her hero turned out to be a plumber, and this man deserves much more recognition. If that man was not there that day in 2015, she would not be around to live the rest of her life because she would have drowned. This is an inspiring story of how circumstance can find you at the wrong place at the wrong time. But then, fate leads someone else to the right place at the time it is most needed.
Plumber Saves Little Girl
In July 2015, a plumber, Angelo Mondragon was on an outing with his family and friends. They were exploring Windsor Lake for the first time and taking in all the sites. The lake is a favorite swim spot for many locals. Also, it pulls in visitors from all over to enjoy its waters. Angelo was about waist deep, and wading through the waters, enjoying himself. He said in an interview later on that he suddenly felt something touch his leg in the water. Angelo reported doing a lot of maneuvers to bring whatever he had found back up to the surface. He was shocked when he saw a tiny human foot splash to the surface.
“It felt like something you normally wouldn’t feel in the water,” he said. “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. I grabbed her and carried her limp body to the shore,” he continued. “The girl was already blue. She wasn’t breathing.”
Angelo acted fast. He told the reporters that he grabbed the girl’s tiny body from the water. He was already screaming to those on the lake’s beach to call for emergency services. The little girl’s name was Sitali Hernandez. She was only three years old. Thankfully, the universe was on their side, and amongst the people on the beach that day there were two off-duty nurses, and the three of them worked ferociously to administer CPR while they waited for the ambulance to collect the girl. The ambulance finally arrived, after a lot of work on Angelo and the nurses’ behalf. They transported her to the Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland, and then later she was relocated to Children’s Hospital in Aurora.
Read: Boy, 5, Ran to Neighbor’s House with Infant Sister to Ask for Help After Mom Suffers Seizure in Shower
Angelo Advocates Life Vests
Since the whole ordeal, Angelo has become the advocate for life vests. He realized that she had not been wearing any floating devices, and being so near the water’s edge he felt that he needs to take action to prevent this from happening again.
“The baby was not wearing a life vest, ‘If she was wearing one, the whole situation could have been different.’ said Angelo in an interview.
Angelo is now collecting old life vests for families who are not able to buy one for themselves. He has been in contact with many local businesses and organizations to see if they would get involved with his endeavor.
All is Well
Luckily for Sitali’s family, they had a hero like Angelo around. They were so lucky that he happened to be swimming in that area of the lake, right where she was floating beneath the surface. It is so easy to get distracted while our children are around, and this whole situation could have ended much worse, but thankfully Angelo was there. He is taking the meaning of his name, Angel, to another level. Although, Angelo remained humble, and said that he was just in the right place at the right time.
Angelo went to visit Sitali at the hospital the very next day, and he said, “I’m coming to let her know that I love her, and she’s a part of my family now, as I told the little girl’s mom, when I saw the baby’s toes, that became my baby.”
Keep Reading: Five-Year-Old Boy Rescues Sister from a Burning House and Goes Back In to Save the Dog
Sources
- Touching moment hero plumber is reunited with the 3-year-old girl he saved from drowning. Daily Mail. KIRI BLAKELEY. 28 July 2015
- Toddler in ‘good condition’ after near-drowning. Colordoan. Adrian D. Garcia. July 17, 2015