A mum and her three-year-old daughter were rescued after falling overboard on a ferry cruise in the Yarra River in Victoria, Australia.
They were pulled out of the river by a fellow passenger, who jumped in after them.
The mother had locked herself in the bathroom at the beginning of the two hour ferry trip, and had refused to come out.
The boat’s Skipper, Fletcher, had repeatedly knocked and asked if she was ok, but the woman had said she was fine.
“I just assumed something had happened and she was embarrassed and didn’t want to come out.” He reported.
At the end of the journey the woman and her child still hadn’t come out and as another passenger wanted to use the bathroom, Fletcher knocked again and told the woman she needed to leave.
The woman and her child came out of the bathroom and she opened the gate at the wrong side of the boat, and jumped into the water despite efforts to stop them.
“I tried to hold her up,” Fletcher said. “I was saying, ‘No, you can’t’. But she was leaning right over and I was about to go in the river with her.”
After the woman jumped into the water with her young daughter, a fellow passenger ran and jumped in after them. He was able to rescue the child and bring her to safety, before going back and pulling the mother out of the water too.
Staff from nearby restaurants rushed to cover the terrified little girl with blankets while paramedics arrived. The girl was given a teddy to comfort her as she was put in the ambulance.
The mum and child are in hospital, but have no serious injuries.
A police sergeant at the scene, Darren Wright praised their rescuer, calling him “incredibly heroic”.
