When a young man saw a young woman drowning in a pool, he stopped at nothing to save her from drowning. Now, the girl’s mom will repay him in the most amazing way…
Trip To Remember
When Samantha Whiting went to the beach with her 10-year-old daughter Haley in Merced, California, she expected a day of fun in the sun. However, it turned into a terrifying experience they will never forget. When entering the water that fateful day, neither Samantha nor Haley knew the strength of the rip current. One moment, Haley was there – the next, gone. The currents quickly pulled the young girl from her mother and into the ocean. “I will never forget her face when she said, ‘Mom, help me!'” she recalled.
Thankfully, Kevin Cozzi and his fiance were on the beach as well. In a flash, Cozzi lept up and dashed into the ocean to save the mother and daughter! “I’ve been swimming since I was 3 years old competitively, so I felt like I could get to them,” Cozzi said. “I ran out there and as soon as I got to the mom, I just told her to give me her daughter because I knew she was struggling.”
“He saved us,” Samantha said. “If it wasn’t for him coming to grab her off of me, there’s no way that we both would’ve made it.” Sadly, as lifeguards arrived on the scene and took care of the mother and daughter, Cozzi left without even giving his name. How would Samantha ever repay him…
Happy Ending
As Samantha Whiting returned home that evening, she knew she needed to find the man who saved her and her daughter Haley. So, she posted to the Facebook group Merced Neighborhood Watch, hoping someone would help her find the good Samaritan. Thankfully, the internet came through, as it so often does!
Just a few hours later, a friend of Cozzi’s connected the two. As Samantha and Cozzi talked, she found out that he had planned to marry his fiancé but canceled everything because of COVID-19. That’s when the mother had an idea. To help him pay for his wedding, Samantha created a GoFundMe page “A Hero Named Kevin!” Now, she’s collecting money for the couple’s dream wedding to make sure this hero receives a proper thank you!
“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,” Samantha wrote on the fundraiser page. “I want to raise money for Kevin and his fiancé[e] to have their dream wedding and honeymoon… Lord knows he deserves so much more than this.”
Still, as Cozzi explained to CNN, he doesn’t think of himself as a hero, or need a thank you. “That girl being saved was enough for me, honestly,” he explained. Plus, he said that Samantha and Haley are invited to the wedding next fall. “[He’s] probably one of the biggest heroes I’ve ever met,” Samantha said. We could not agree more!