eIn a seven-year-old boy who became a hero over Memorial Day weekend. After his father and four-year-old sister were caught in a stream while showering and taken away, Chase Post swam ashore for help.
His father, Stephen Post, went fishing with Chase and his sister at Mandarin Point on Friday. The Local TV station WJXT Post said his boat was moored on the St. Johns River near Jacksonville, Florida, when his four-year-old daughter Abigail was caught swimming and drifted away. Seven-year-old Chase first tried to catch his sister, but ran into trouble.
When Stephen Post jumped after his kids, he ordered his son to swim to the bank. “I told him I loved him because I didn’t know what was going to happen,” Post told the TV station. “I tried to stay with both, but then my daughter walked away.” Fortunately, since the girl was wearing a life jacket, she did not drown.
The boy was supposed to take more than an hour to get to the bank. He told the WJXT announcer that he had drifted on his back and paddled to maintain his strength, because – unlike his sister – he wasn’t wearing a life jacket. These are no longer mandatory in Florida from the age of six. Then he ran to the next house to ask for help.
According to the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department, the father and daughter drifted between one and a half to two miles (about 1.5 to 3.2 kilometers) from the boat’s original location. Just an hour later, firefighters discovered Stephen Post and his daughter in the water. “I screamed as loudly as I could and waved my arm,” Stephen Post said from the moment he saw the boat. Speaking of his son’s heroism, he said, “The little guy came to shore and found help, and that saved us lives!”.