A college student waiting for an air show rescued three young girls from drowning in Lake Washington during Seattle’s annual Seafair weekend.
Lillie Vehling was sitting at Genesee Park reading a book while waiting to watch the U.S. Navy Blue Angels perform over the water. As she looked out toward the buoy lane, she noticed three young girls struggling in the lake.
“There were three girls who were out pretty far by the buoy lane that they had set up, and they did not look very good,” Vehling said. “They were already bobbing up and down trying to get breaths, and one of the girls was actually drowning the others in order to breathe, and that’s when I knew I had to jump in.”
Vehling, a UC Davis water polo player who trained as a lifeguard and taught swim lessons, did not hesitate to dive into action. She reached the group quickly and separated the child who was pulling down the rest.
“I first grabbed the girl that was drowning the other two to get her out of the environment so that the other two weren’t even in worse shape, and I removed them one by one,” Vehling recalled. She pulled each girl back to shallow water, finding the third child unconscious and wrapped in a buoy rope.
Bystanders called 911, and Seattle Fire Department paramedics treated the children before transferring one girl to Seattle Children’s Hospital in stable condition.
Later that evening, Seafair CEO Emily Cantrell invited Vehling to the official gala to honor her courage. “We knighted her as ‘Lady Guardian of Lake Washington.’ It was incredible having her at the right place at the right time. What she did was extraordinary,” Cantrell shared.
“To save three people, I didn’t think twice about myself. I’m just glad everyone’s safe,” Vehling said.
God gave this 20-year-old woman the wisdom to know exactly what to do in that critical moment. Even if someone is very good at swimming, they might freeze or struggle during such an emergency situation.
Most of us have gone through our own panic situations, where we felt helpless and knew that our strength was not enough. But looking back, we can see how God gave us His peace and directed our steps to take the right decisions in those times.
Our hope should not be in our strength or money, it must be in Christ alone. Philippians 4:13 reminds us, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
Let us keep these little girls and their families in our prayers as they continue to recover from this scary experience.
WATCH: Heroic College Student Rescues 3 Girls From Drowning
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