I heard screams from the beach.
Then former NHL player Chris Foucault threw himself into the sea – and saved the life of a six-year-old girl.
– I thought she was already dead, he says of the heroic effort in the Bahamas.
Canadian hockey player Chris Foucault, 31, loves the sea and usually takes his family to Hawaii on vacation every year.
This year, they were forced to change their plans.
Hawaii is still under COVID restrictions, so the Fuku family packed their bags and checked out Bahamas.
Once he got there, his swimming skills came in handy.
In an interview with NHL.com, the former Minnesota player Wilde tells how he threw himself into the sea on May 10 and saved the life of a six-year-old girl who was about to drown.
“I saw a dead body”
Foucault, his wife and their two children were having lunch in a restaurant a stone’s throw away when suddenly they heard screams from the shore.
After that, his mother-in-law and his sister-in-law returned from a walk on the beach.
Foucault wondered if it was a shark in the sea, but was horrified to hear that it was a little girl, whereupon he dropped everything, and rushed there and swam to her rescue.
– As soon as I passed the waves, I saw her lifeless body lying and floating in front of me 15 meters away. Every now and then I was intent on bringing a body ashore, he says.
As soon as Foucault reached the girl, her lips were blue and her eyes were completely white. White and brown foam leaked from her nose and mouth, showing no signs of life.
But when he lifted her off the surface, she started moving her fingers and toes.
Returning to land, the coast guard was alerted from the nearby shore and ran there, and thanks to rapid CPR, the little girl was revived.
Praise for his efforts
When the girl woke up, she hugged her mother and burst into tears, writes NHL.com.
Then she was taken to the hospital.
At the time, Foucault was still quite exhausted at the beach, catching his breath, and had not been in contact with the girl or her family since.
But the heroic effort has now attracted international attention and on Instagram, Foucault is overwhelmed with praise.
His efforts are also made even more impressive by the fact that he did – with a newly operated shoulder.
Foucault did not swim for several months before coming to the Bahamas and says his shoulder hurt afterward.
But the bulge has subsided and the 31-year-old will soon begin training for another season with German Iserlohn Roosters, where he now lives.