A 15-year-old boy risked his own life to save a 15-month-old from drowning in a canal in Knottingley, West Yorkshire.
Ryley Ferguson was walking his two dogs near his home in Knottingley, West Yorkshire when he spotted 15-month-old Reggie Hampton drowning in a canal.
Without even thinking, he jumped into the canal to save the toddler, risking his own life.
Ryley said: “I’m just so happy I was there and managed to dive in, in time to save him. I didn’t have time to think, I was just on my walk with my dogs when I saw him fall in. I took my shoes and coat off – it was pure instinct at that point.”
After saving Reggie, Ryley was unable to get out of the water as he was holding the toddler. Two men, who heard him shouting for help, came to rescue them.
When Reggie started crying, Ryley told him: ‘Don’t worry, I got you’.
Reggie’s 33-year-old mother Rebecca Hampton was working in the garden when her toddler wandered off.
A neighbor told Rebecca that her little son was in the canal and she was left stunned.
But, when she found out Ryley had saved Reggie from drowning in the canal, she took a sigh of relief.
She thanked Ryley for saving her son’s life and called him a ‘Guardian Angel’.
Rebecca said: I keep saying Ryley is our guardian angel, he saved my boy and saved my life. Reggie will grow up knowing who Ryley is and what he’s done. He’s our superhero.”
“I can’t thank Ryley enough, I gave him a card with some money but no money in the world will ever cover what he’s done for me”, she added.
Ryley’s family was proud of him when they learned how he saved a toddler’s life. He has now been nominated for the Pride of Britain award and will give £1,000 to the NHS charity raised by a GoFundMe page created for him by his neighbor after the incident.
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