Girl, 9, Who Can't Walk or Talk Saves Brother From Drowning

She screamed, pointed toward pool
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 5, 2018 4:53 AM CDT
Girl, 9, Who Can't Walk or Talk Saves Brother From Drowning
"Her disability is all physical. She is a very bright girl," Lexie's mother says.   (Getty Images/Tatomm)

When Lexie Comeau-Drisdelle's mother heard the 9-year-old girl screaming at the top of her voice, she thought her daughter had fallen out of her wheelchair and was alerting her the only way she could. Lexie has cerebral palsy and is unable to walk or talk. But the Nova Scotia girl wasn't the one who needed help: Her baby brother, Leeland, had opened the door and fallen in the family's backyard pool while other family members were preparing for Lexie's birthday party. Lexie's grandmother reached her first. After seeing her screaming and pointing at the pool, she spotted the 18-month-old boy and was able to get him out before he drowned, CNN reports. He was taken to the hospital in stable condition and has made a full recovery.

"She's yelling and she's pointing at the door, and I realize Leeland's not with her," grandmother Nancy Comeau-Drisdelle tells CTV. "You don't need to be able to walk and talk. You can still make yourself heard and you can still help. And yes, she did save his life." Family members—who have now installed a fence between house and pool—say this was the first time Leeland had ever opened the door on his own. Lexie's mother says her daughter is a very bright girl whose disability is all physical, and her story should be a reminder that people who can't speak still know what's happening around them. Lexie was honored by Halifax's police department and Mayor Mike Savage this week. "Heroes come in all sizes," he tweeted. (More cerebral palsy stories.)

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