Woman Reunites With Toddler She Saved From Drowning Back in 1961

A woman reunites with a toddler she saved from drowning back in 1961. It was a reunion 64 years in the making. Some moments in life feel like they were orchestrated by heaven itself–like threads woven together by unseen hands, stitching a story only God could write.

In 1961, Barbara Ribeiro was in her thirties, just another guest at a party, laughing, talking, and enjoying the evening—until the mood shifted. A toddler had vanished. The air grew tight with worry, and the search began.

Barbara Found the Toddler in the Pool

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Barbara had no reason to choose the house she did. She wasn’t given any sign, no whispered voice telling her to turn left instead of right. She just knew—or rather, she was led.

And when she arrived, she found him.

Twenty-one-month-old Ben Colwell had wandered away, slipping into a backyard pool. By the time Barbara found him, he had sunk to the bottom—silent, still.

"It was scary frightening," she recalled, the memory of it still fresh in her mind at 94 years old.

Fear Didn’t Stop Barbara

But fear didn’t stop her. She jumped in. She pulled his tiny body from the water. She listened as a neighbor called out instructions for CPR and mouth-to-mouth. And she did what she could—what she had to—until life returned to him.

And now, 64 years later, Barbara and Ben were standing face to face once again.

Time had etched lines on faces and added years to their stories, but one thing remained—gratefulness.

When Ben walked in, Barbara—who had warned the cameras she might cry—greeted him with warmth: "Hello, hello young man!"

He smiled back, now a 66-year-old business owner and father of two. "It’s so nice to see you," he told her.

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It Was the Hand of God

Ben had grown up knowing the story, but the details had always been distant, almost surreal. "The only thing I had ever heard someone say, I think it was my mom, telling me that when you guys found me there weren’t any bubbles coming up," he shared. "No one knew how long I had been down there."

The weight of it settled over the room. The reality of just how close he had come to never seeing another birthday, another morning, another day.

And yet, God had written a different ending.

"When I really think of it," Ben said, his voice thick with emotion, "I think—hand of God. He made sure that I made it for some reason."

God Knew All That Would Happen

Barbara didn’t know why she picked that house.

She didn’t know how long Ben had been under the water.

She didn’t know that 64 years later, she would sit across from the man she had once pulled from the depths.

But God knew.

God is Leading

God knew exactly where she needed to be. God knew exactly when to place her feet in motion. God knew exactly how to align that night, that moment, so a little boy would grow up to be a man with a story to tell.

And maybe that’s the part we need to hold onto—that even when we don’t see it, even when we don’t understand it, even when we feel like we’re just making small, ordinary choices—God is leading. He is weaving. He is making a way.

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Because maybe every moment is holy when God’s hands are the ones writing the story.

Psalm 121:7-8 "The Lord will keep you from all harm—He will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore."

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h/t: Good News Network

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Heather Riggleman is a believer, wife, mom, author, social media consultant, and full-time writer. She lives in Minden, Nebraska with her kids, high school sweetheart, and three cats who are her entourage around the homestead. She is a former award-winning journalist with over 2,000 articles published. She is full of grace and grit, raw honesty, and truly believes tacos can solve just about any situation. You can find her on GodUpdates, iBelieve, Crosswalk, Hello Darling, Focus On The Family, and in Brio Magazine. Connect with her at www.HeatherRiggleman.com or on Facebook.