SEATTLE — A week ago today, a hero came to Lake Washington to watch the Blue Angels soar.
It was then she noticed three young girls in the water starting to sink.
“They did not look very good. They were already bobbing up and down trying to get breaths, and one of the girls was actually drowning…and that’s when I knew I had to jump in,” said Lillie Vehling.
Vehling also realized that there were hundreds of people in and around the water, and yet she was the only one who noticed the three girls struggling.
“They were still, really. Like their mouths were just above the waterline and I was supporting both of us and swam her back to shallow waer,” Vehling said.
She rushed to rescue all three girls — one by one — asking strangers to help.
“By the time I’d gotten to the third girl, it was just the top of her head that was there, so I just saw her black hair in the water, barely floating. And when I got to her, she was unconscious,” Vehling said.
Vehling got the girl to cough up water while urging people to call 911. Paramedics rushed that girl to Harborview, where she recovered.
“Hearing about the rescues that Lillie made... it’s just extraordinary. Every single bit of it is extraordinary,” said Emily Cantrell, the CEO of Seafair.
“She was here because she wanted to watch the Blue Angels, and someone told her that they were flying in Seattle, so she took the ferry over. Just everything that happened that day- it’s like it was meant to be,” Cantrell said.
Meant to be, because Vehling also happens to be a water polo star at Cal-Davis, where she’s also a decorated scholar.
She’s also a certified lifeguard who teaches water survival skills.
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