Young Girl is Saved by Good Samaritan After Falling 15 Feet Into a Waterfall

Kiya Livingston is incredibly grateful to a Good Samaritan who saved her little girl after the 3-year-old fell 15 feet into a waterfall. It was a harrowing experience for both Kiya and her daughter, but the heroism of a stranger changed everything!

According to reports by CBS affiliate KFSM and ABC affiliate KHBS, Kiya and her daughter, Melody Hope, were visiting Tanyard Creek Nature Trail in Bella Vista, Arkansas, on May 20. The two had visited the area before, but the water was higher than usual this time, probably due to recent rains. Kiya looked away for a few seconds, and little Melody tumbled into the waterfall and was swept away by the fast-moving current.  

She Was Just Gone

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“I was sitting on the rocks; she was standing on the bridge with her friends,” Kiya told KFSM. “They were throwing in rocks, and we told her not to get too close. Then somehow, she just stuck her foot in there, and she was gone.”

Terrified, Kiya tried to figure out how to save her baby. “I saw her purple outfit and I saw a hand in the air, so my first thing was to just get in there,” Kiya recalled. “She was over the waterfall, and she flew from the top to the bottom so I had to get out of the water and try to run the best that I could to the bottom to find somewhere to catch her.”

A Little Girl is Saved

The panicked mom ran alongside the water, hoping to pull Melody from the current. As she ran, she was encouraged by others who joined her and offered their help. She shared, “We were just trying to find out where we could find her in the water, to pull her out, because the current was so strong.”

Incredibly, when Kiya and her sister reached the bottom of the waterfall and the end of the rushing water, she found her daughter safe, saved by a man who’d spotted her in the water, jumped in, and pulled her out! Kiya told KFSM, “She was thankfully fully wedged between a rock that held her underwater, held her in place, where he was able to scoop her up.”

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Melody Didn’t Need CPR

Amazingly, Melody did not need CPR, and she had no broken bones and only a few scratches! A doctor told Kiya that Melody’s small size may have helped her survive the fall and near-drowning experience, but there were a lot of blessings that day.

The people who traveled alongside Kiya as she struggled to keep her eyes on Melody in the water, the rock that stopped Melody’s movement in the rapids, and the kind man who, ultimately, rescued Melody all played a part in how this story ended. Kiya says she received a miracle and told KFSM, “I think yesterday was completely on God. When I couldn't get to the water, I had nobody to call on but God. He was right there.”

Melody turned four just a few days after her accident, and Kiya knows she is blessed! Kiya knows they wouldn’t be celebrating without the help of the Good Samaritan stranger. “Thankful,” Kiya said, “He saved my daughter's life. So anything that we can do, if we can just say, thank you.”

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“But you, Lord, do not be far from me. You are my strength; come quickly to help me.” Psalms 22:19

WATCH: Young Girl is Saved by Good Samaritan After Falling 15 Feet Into a Waterfall

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h/t:  People

Featured Image Credit: YouTube/40/29 News

Hally is a freelance writer, blogger, and mental health advocate. A former school counselor, Hally works for a nonprofit that distributes tax dollars to mental health and prevention education providers that serve her county's kids and families. She's a contributor to a devotional and two essay collectives, and she shares resources and wisdom regarding parenting teens, mental health, faith, adoption, and more at http://www.hallyjwells.com where she strives to "Dig Deep and Reach High." She and her husband have three adult children and one rascally beagle pup. Hally loves travel, her book club sisters, personality tests, and a great glass of iced tea.