A jet ski accident in the Columbia River could have proven fatal if it weren’t for the quick thinking of a nearby stranger. On Wednesday, two girls fell off their watercraft near Oregon’s Hayden Island. The jet ski got away from them, leaving them stranded in the water. Although both girls were wearing life jackets, one of them couldn’t swim.
Onlookers from the island weren’t sure what to do about the situation, apart from calling authorities. Ryan Mesa, who spoke to KPTV about the incident, says that he went to look for his own life jacket. In the meantime, a pontoon boat was able to rescue one of the girls. According to Ryan, the other one “was drowning.” Before he could attempt to help, though, another man jumped into the water without hesitation.
“You know, there’s some people that freeze in that moment and there’s some people that act,” said Ryan. “By the time I got to him and the water, I saw him in the water with a rope around his waist.”
The courageous man, whose name is Mynor, happened to be fishing in the area when he saw the accident. He was able to carry the girl back to shore, despite the strength of the current. Mynor’s wife, Anna, translated the Spanish-speaker’s comments for KPTV.
“She was crying. She was shaking,” Mynor said, describing the moment he reached the frightened girl. “I told her not to be nervous or afraid. That everything was going to be alright.”
Ryan told the news outlet that the area where the girls fell off their jet ski was particularly treacherous, “even with the life vest.” He added that Mynor’s reaction on seeing the drowning girl was nothing short of heroic.
“God bless his soul, because if those girls would have died, I might not have been looking at this view the same way,” he said.
Mynor, on the other hand, dismissed the praise.
“I’m not a hero. I just tried to help,” he said.
You can find the source of this story’s featured image here.
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