A happy beach trip for this Texas family turned into horror when their 10-year old daughter got washed away by a strong current and the mom who rushed forward to help her child also found herself helpless against the strong waves. It was at that moment, another young man Kevin, who was witnessing the incident without thinking further jumped into the water to bring the mother-daughter duo back to the safety of the shore. And now to show their gratitude for his heroic act, the mom has decided to help Kevin in a different yet surely very helpful way.
Mom Finds Hero California Man Who Saved Her Daughter From Drowning And Now Her Family Are Helping Raise Money For His Wedding
By
Samantha in
For The Win
On 8th November 2020
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A family from Texas is trying to repay a kind stranger who saved their daughter from drowning.
The drowning incident took place back in August when 10-year old Haylee Whiting was playing in the sea in Monterey, California while on holiday with her family. Her mum, Samantha, had asked her daughter to come closer to shore, but Haylee found herself caught in a rip current.
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The current was washing Haylee away and remembering the terrifying experience, the little girl remembers saying: ‘This is not happening. There’s no way I’m being pulled out.’
The mom saw her daughter struggling in the water and ran towards her. She was able to reach towards Haylee but she underestimated the strong current and found that the water was ‘slowly taking both of [them] down.’
Haylee said she was ‘terrified’, and the screaming caught the attention of Kevin Cozzi, who was on the beach nearby with his fiancée.
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Kevin in an interview with ABC7 News he’s been swimming competitively since he was three years old, so he felt he would be capable enough to get to the mother and daughter.
He explained:
I ran out there and as soon as I got to the mom, I knew she was struggling.
Thankfully, Kevin's experience of aiming came in handy and he was able to bring the mother-daughter duo to the shore safely.
Samantha for months only knew the name of Kevin and she wanted to find more about him so she could thank him properly. In an effort to connect once again Samantha posted about the rescue in a Facebook group called Merced Neighborhood Watch this week, and within hours she was in touch with Kevin.
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It was then Smanatha got to know that Kevin and his fiancée had to cancel their wedding due to the coronavirus outbreak, she decided to set up a GoFundMe page to help the heroic man afford his dream wedding.
The page explains:
If it wasn’t for him risking his life in such a selfless act I would have lost not only my own life but my baby girl.
I want to raise money for Kevin and his fiancée to have their dream wedding and honeymoon, any amount helps and is much appreciated. Lord knows he deserves so much more than this.
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Wanting to do something in return to show her gratitude Samantha set a goal of $50,000, and more than 1,000 people have already donated more than $31,500. The mother thanked everyone for their support and expressed her hopes that the money may even help Kevin and his future wife put a down payment on a house.
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She added:
Kevin and his fiancée are still so humble saying they don’t deserve this. I feel like if I had the money to give them anything in life I would, because they saved my world, my child. My family will now have a bond with this man and his family forever, we ARE family now.
Samantha and her daughter Haylee have plans of attending Kevin where they plan to thank the man again for his heroic action that day!
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