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East River Rescue Dad Feels Bad for Being Inattentive

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The dad who hopped into the East River Saturday to save his little girl Bridget says he feels "bad and really guilty and horrible" for letting her out of his sight, even though it was only for about ten seconds. David Anderson snapped a picture of his 2-year-old on the gangplank of a ship museum docked at South Street Seaport. After reviewing the shot, he deleted it, then looked up to find his daughter gone. A peek over the railing revealed she was floating in the water 20 feet below. "She was lying there motionless. I thought I might have just lost my little girl. There were 15 people walking up the ramp and I just broke through them like they weren't there," recalls the dad, an unemployed former ski patrol worker.

Anderson was aided by a mysterious Frenchman who hasn't been tracked down by the press, and the rescue went off without a hitch, reports the Daily News. "Thank God, Bridget's perfectly fine," said the dad, who called the incident an "Easter Miracle" "You would have thought she was in a bathtub. She came out with not a scratch, not a mark, nothing." In observation of the holiday, the family visited the cemetery where the little girl's grandma and namesake is buried. "I saw her grave, and just thought, 'Thank God there's only one Bridget here," Anderson told the Post.

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Comments [rss]

  • Gotham Extremist

    But wait! Has any litigation lawyer contacted this man so that he can sue the city for 100 mil? Call him, its a gold mine!!!!

  • drewo

    Sorry - parent fail still applies here.

  • evbo

    While this whole episode well might stem from a moment of parental inattention, those of us who have children know that we've all been guilty of the same thing from time to time. However, it doesn't often happen that a moment's inattention leads to potentially tragic consequences.

    IMO, this guy's a hero. I understand his guilt -- hell, I can empathize with it to a certain degree -- but he came through with flying colors. His quick action more than made up for his previous lapse. I hope he can come through this alright & stop beating himself up eventually.

  • cutlass

    I saw this guy on NY1 last night, and a reporter said to him, "Some people are being critical of you for not paying attention to your child..."

    And he said, "They're right. I take full responsibility."

    Which immediately pegged him as an out-of-towner.

  • Gotham Extremist

    glad it turned out good. otherwise this one frame of picture will forever haunt you.

  • Jen S

    Not so! He deleted it.

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