Thirteen-year-old Kaydence Henslee from New Mexico was on Spring Break to Disney World with her family when she saw a toddler floating face down in the deep end of a local Orlando Pool Hotel.
“I was scared and nervous and afraid, but my instincts kicked in.”
Kaydence
Three-year-old Haven Williams from Missouri was unconscious in the deep end of the hotel pool when Kaydence stepped into action.
Haven’s mother, Ashley Williams, said she stepped away from the pool for just a couple of minutes. “I just remember seeing another woman run across and yell into the bar area for someone to call 911 because a baby had just drowned,” Ashley said. “I was like, ‘oh my gosh.’ I didn’t think it was my baby.”
Kaydence pulled the little girl out of the pool while a heroic bystander performed CPR until Haven could be transported to the hospital.
Haven did not fully recover until 5 a.m. the next morning. “Even the doctors are saying that whoever got her out of the water did it at a perfect time because if she would have been under the water a little longer, it would have been a different outcome,” according to the mom.
The families swapped information after the incident so they could stay in touch. Over Easter Kaydence even sent Haven a friendship necklace ahead of Haven’s fourth birthday.
Kaydence is wanting to get her CPR Certification so she can be prepared in the future if it ever happens again.
Haven’s mom said in an interview her daughter would not be here if it wasn’t for Kaydence.
“I knew it was the right thing to do to help someone out,” according to Kaydence.
While the name of the local Orlando Hotel is unknown it should be noted that Disney has trained lifeguards at almost all of their major pools who are trained to handle incidents like this.
Kaydence is a true hero for stepping up and saving little Haven from downing! We can tell she has bright future ahead of her.
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Congratulations to Kaydence! You are a hero! Thinking of others! Way to go!
No way this happened at a Disney Property. Their lifeguards are fully trained and every part of the pool is watched. Patents, don’t turn your back for a couple of seconds- much less minutes when your children are around water!