Brave nine-year-old girl saves her sister from drowning

By Corrine Gadke

This past Friday, August 21, a local family experienced a day they will never forget. Like many others, Mallory Smith and her family of four had taken a trip to Edmonton to do some back to school shopping and planned to spend the night.  The evening ended, or so they thought, with a swim at their hotel. Sisters, Abby, age nine and Zoey, age 6, were excited as the pool also had a waterside. Mom, Mallory, was supervising by the pool, waiting for the girls to appear from the slide. Then to her horror, she witnessed her daughter, Abby, screaming and holding her younger sister on her lap as a substantial amount of blood was discharging from Zoey’s head.

Alerting her mother of her younger sister’s injury, Abby chose to do something incredible, at nine years old. Abby carried her sister approximately six feet to her mother at the pool’s side,  keeping Zoey’s frantic and screaming body above water to avoid drowning. 

Continually worried about her sister, and with Abby’s persistent thinking on the spot, she then took it upon herself to retrieve the key, returned to the hotel room and gather her sister’s blanket, stuffed animal and the car keys. At the same time, her frightened mother attended to Zoey at the front desk with first aid equipment.

Upon arrival at the Misericordia Hospital, still shaken and crying, it was disclosed that only one member could accompany the six-year-old into the hospital due to COVID safety practices. Abby refused to leave and stayed in the parking lot with her father for five hours until her sister was released.

Zoey sustained a concussion from the waterslide jets causing her to slip, hitting and cutting her forehead. Talking to Zoey, as she is recovering very well, she knows her sister is her hero and stated, “I know that she loves me!”

Mallory Smith, a lab assistant at the Whitecourt Hospital, usually use to the atmosphere of a hospital and panicky parents, had the tables turned on this day, she commented, “ I never really thought about how different it is to be the parent with your child in an emergency, I completely understand how the only thing that is important at that moment is the safety of your child!” also adding, ” I am so happy, grateful and proud that Abby was there for her sister, I can’t believe how brave, strong and quick thinking my nine-year-old was in those moments.”

Taking a few moments to ask Abby how she felt at the time of the incident, she said, “I was really scared and nervous that my sister was hurt. As soon as I saw the blood and knew she couldn’t swim, I got scared and knew I had to do something.”

 Abby was asked if she feels like a hero. Modestly she replied, “I do, but I don’t like how everyone says that. Any sister would do that for their sister!” 

 The family is recovering well from the incident, and Abby will now be forever known as a local hero.