‘She’s a hero’: Pregnant mom risks her life to save kids from drowning

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A pregnant mom is being praised as a hero for saving several children in Lake Michigan from drowning.

Alyssa DeWitt, who lives in Manistee, shared the incredible story from May 25 on her Facebook page.

“God did his thing today, and he put me exactly where I needed to be, once again,” DeWitt wrote.

The mother of three, with a baby boy on the way, contemplated going to the beach because it was such a windy day.

“But something told me to go, so we did. Today, I took the kids to the pier side of the beach. We NEVER go to this side. Ever. Today, I felt that this side was best, for whatever reason. You can’t tell me it was “luck” I was there when I was. I was meant to be there.. and I’m so sooo thankful for it.”

While she was with her kids on the beach, she noticed a pair of hands waving frantically in the water and she immediately jumped into action.

DeWitt ushered her kids out of the water to safety, ran to the pier and called 911, but between the wind and the waves she could barely hear the first responder.

“The best I could do was scream into the phone we needed help — there were kids drowning,” she told UpNorthLive.

A group of young girls had been swimming near the First Street Beach pier when the water overpowered them.

DeWitt, who is five months pregnant with a baby boy, took matters into her own hands.

“I put my phone down with 911 on and laid down over the side of the pier and told them what to do, reach for my hand. Every time I would get them part way up a wave would smash them back down,” she said. “This part will stick with me forever. This girl looked at me and said, ‘I’m going to die.’ It makes me cry every time I think about it. I said ‘I promise you. I am not going to let you die out here. I will get you out of this water.’”

Miraculously, the mom saved all three young girls, all under the age of 15.

“[T]he adrenaline kicked into high gear and somehow I did it,” she wrote on Facebook. “I pulled them up the pier wall, with the waves slamming into me and throwing the kids all over the place, pulling with all my might on wet slippery hands, and almost going over the edge myself a few times. I kept my promise, I was going to do whatever I had to do.”

Manistee City Police Chief Josh Glass lauded DeWitt for her bravery.

“We all think we’ll do this, but it’s very difficult when you’re faced (with that) situation. By all accounts this person did not hesitate to put her safety aside and we are extremely thankful for that,” Glass told Manistee News Advocate. “She’s a hero.”

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DeWitt went to the emergency room to make sure her baby was okay, and everyone survived. “I’m beyond thankful I was where I was and that those kids get to live another day,” she wrote, adding. “I’m loving my babies a little harder tonight. I’m sure those parents are too. God is good.”

Check out the heroic mom’s baby registry here.

Caleb Parke is a senior correspondent for the ‘Todd Starnes Show.’ Follow him on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and connect with him at calebparke.com.