In Manistee, Michigan a stay-at-home pregnant mom is being hailed as a hero. You see, 27-year-old Alyssa DeWitt decided to take her kids to First Street Beach Pier at Lake Michigan on Tuesday afternoon.
For those not familiar with the area, you can take a look at the map below:
Alyssa had reportedly stated:
“I almost didn’t [take the kids to the beach pier], I sat in the van for about five minutes thinking the wind was really strong, and I didn’t really know if it was a good idea."
While on the beach, she had spotted a group of girls, all under the age of 15, heading into the water.
"At one point, I actually said to myself, 'Wow, they're getting pretty far out there. That's a little dangerous with how big the waves are."
She grew more and more concerned by the minute:
“I happened to look up and saw one of the girls waving her arms towards me and immediately knew something was wrong. I got up, pulled my kids out of the water and ran out onto the pier.”
Alyssa had called 911 but wasn't sure if the girls could hear her on time.
“I didn’t know if [they] could hear me and I didn’t have time to wait and find out.”
No one else was on the beach at the time. She since she was the only one there, she figured that she should try to help.
Alyssa went down and laid on her stomach, despite being five months pregnant, and began pulling each of the girls over the slippery and rocky pier.
"I got to the edge about where they were at and they could hardly keep their heads above the water at that point and they were exhausted."
“Every time I’d get one of them halfway up, a big wave would come smashing into us and knock them back down or almost pull me over."
We can only presume that things got more intense.
"I kicked it into mama bear mode at that point."
“My turning point was when one of the little girls looked at me and said, ‘I’m going to die.’ That was it for me and I was like ‘I’m not going to let you die, I’m going to get you out of this water, I promise.’"
Somehow, she managed to pull all three girls out of the water and over the pier. Then, they rescued a fourth girl who had managed to get closer to shore (but was struggling to stand due to a leg injury).
Afterward, they were all able to get back towards the shore.
“I honestly do not know how I did it, it was pure adrenaline at that point.”
"I was so relieved, the adrenaline rush was crazy... Lots of hugs and tears shared. I'm pretty sure at one point I said, 'don't ever do that again.' It was just the mama in me."
As soon as everyone scrambled onto the beach safely, the ambulance and police cars reportedly came flying in and into the parking lot. Eventually, the parents of the girls came around as well.
Alyssa did sustain a minor injury, in the form of a swollen wrist, but reportedly both she and her unborn baby are fine. The hospital made sure that everyone was safe and sound.
Alyssa prides her six-year-old daughter as the secondary hero of the show. According to Alyssa, her daughter kept her two-year-old brother busy and safe during this whole ordeal.
“Between me screaming into the phone that I needed help and me screaming to the kids what I needed them to do to get them out, I was also turning around and screaming to my son not to come because it wasn’t safe."
Apparently, her son was scared and wanted to run after his mother, but the other child managed to stop him on time.
“My daughter would pick him up and take him back to the sand and she was so calm and I’m extremely proud of her, she did a great job.”
You can see a video from Alyssa recounting the whole ordeal:
Plus, she even made an amazing social media post about it too, stressing the importance of water safety, especially when it comes to our children.
It's amazing to think that such heroic acts occurred right in Manistee, Michigan. Only time will tell if more heroes arise from such dire circumstances. For now though, make sure your children and family are safe, especially when near water.