Real Life

Watch: Five-year-old saves mum from drowning

Brave Allison Anderwald is being praised as a hero for saving her mother from drowning in their backyard pool.
Allison Anderwald with parents

Footage of a five-year-old girl rescuing her mother from their backyard pool has gone viral.

Caller Times reports young Allison Anderwald was playing Marco Polo with her mother Tracy in their backyard pool when Tracy blacked out.

In the footage, which was captured by the family security camera, Allison is seen pulling her mother to the shallow end of the pool and lifting her head above the water before running to get help.

“It’s amazing she even knew what to do,” Tracy told local media.

Last year, 113 Kiwis drowned, according to Water Safety New Zealand. That number was up on the previous year by a 26 per cent. Water Safety New Zealand Chief Executive Matt Claridge says 76 per cent of those deaths were classified as preventable.

So far, 31 people have died in the water in 2016.

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