Instead of thanking a homeless man for saving a drowning boy from the river, the boy’s mother yelled at him
The November wind cut through the flesh and brought a damp, sharp cold from the river. A child of five was playing in between the peeling automobiles. His mother stood a short distance away, holding her phone to her ear as she laughed at her friend’s jokes.
The child went toward the riverside drop-off while his mother was busy. Because of the recent rainfall, the current was stronger that day, making the water muddy and turbulent. After taking one mistake stride, the boy’s heavy jacket immediately pulled him down, causing him to fall into the river while screaming.
The mother didn’t notice anything. Only once or twice did she glance around absently as she carried on talking on the phone.
The boy was trying to get away from the coast, but the current was pulling him away. He was choking and gasping for cold breath.
Then, across the river, a man who was always regarded with nothing but disdain by the locals—a thin, scrawny man whom they all called “Erlich”—came into view. A homeless man who lived in an abandoned house nearby.
Wearing dirty clothes, he dove into the frigid water as soon as he heard the child’s cries. He kept going till he reached the youngster and grabbed his collar.
The youngster was crying, trembling, and pale. Erlich pulled him to the shore and wrapped him in his torn cloak.
When he brought the boy back inside and shouted, the mother finally noticed them:
— Have you spoken to my son yet? What a jerk you are!
He was drowning.
It was better that he drowned than fall into your filthy hands!
Erlich looked at her incredulously. He was scared about the child more than he was harmed. Witnessing this mother yelling without even checking to see if her infant was still alive was unimaginable.
Then Erlich did something somewhat unexpected yet sensible.
Then, suddenly, he turned and hugged himself again, this time with the boy.
— Hi there! She said, “Bring him back!” yet was afraid to approach.
Erlich quietly walked away and knocked on the door of a kind and kind elderly neighbor.
“Help the boy,” he begged, breathless. – Call the cops. You saw his mother come dangerously close to killing him.
The neighbor immediately called. The police removed the mother who was shouting profanities.
After an investigation, the mother’s parental rights were taken away. The boy was placed with a foster family following a brief stay with the neighbor.
