College student reading by lake, waiting for Blue Angels show saves 3 young girls from drowning

SEATTLE (KOMO) – A college student is being hailed as a hero after she saved three young girls from drowning during a busy festival in Seattle.

Lillie Vehling was waiting for the U.S. Navy Blue Angels air show while attending Seafair, a massive summer festival in Seattle, for the first time July 31. That’s when she noticed three young girls about 15 yards offshore in Lake Washington.

“I was scanning the water after reading a page of my book, and I saw three kids just over the top of my book that were really struggling,” Vehling said. “I could see their faces from where I was sitting, and they needed help.”

Vehling said the girls were screaming for help, and their heads were bobbing up and down. A college water polo player, swim lesson coach and trained lifeguard, she immediately recognized the early signs of drowning and sprang into action.

Kicking off her shoes and sunglasses, Vehling ran into the water and started pulling each girl to shore one by one. When she went back for the third girl, Vehling said she was unconscious, barely floating and tangled in the rope of a small buoy.

“It was wrapped up all around her. You could tell that she was desperately trying to grab it to save her own life,” Vehling said. “She wasn’t responding to me at this point. I knew I needed to get her out of the water as soon as possible.”

Vehling got all three girls to shore safely before Seattle Fire Department paramedics arrived. One of the girls was taken to the hospital in stable condition.

Seafair President and CEO Emily Cantrell quickly learned about the rescue and went to find the hero.

“Immediately, she [Cantrell] asked, ‘Are you OK?’ and ‘Can I give you a hug?’” Vehling said.

That hug led to Vehling becoming Seafair royalty. At the festival’s gala later that night, she was knighted as “Lady Guardian of Lake Washington.”

“It was incredible having her at the right place at the right time. What she did was extraordinary,” Cantrell said.

But Vehling insists her instinct to help came naturally.

“I’ve grown up around the water and spend a lot of time in the water,” she said. “To save three people, I didn’t think twice about myself. I’m just glad everyone’s safe.”…Read more by KOMO via CNN Newsource