Gozitan twins Karl and Krista Curmi got the fright of their lives last Wednesday when they were about to leave Marsalforn after a swim with their grandmother, Victoria Grech, at Il-Menqa.
The 10-year-old siblings from Victoria are regular swimmers at this beach, especially now that they are on their summer holidays. Whenever they go there, they make it a point to leave at about 11am before the heat sets in and the sun becomes unbearable.
As they were about to leave with their grandmother on Wednesday at about 10.45am, Karl, who had already put his clothes on and was having a snack with his sister, caught a glimpse of a woman holding her 20-month-old grandson while climbing down a ladder leading to the sea.
All of a sudden, he heard the woman screaming for help in panic and immediately realised that one of her legs had got stuck and could not move. She also let go of the baby she was carrying.
I didn’t even think twice about it. I just jumped in with my clothes and shoes
“I didn’t even think twice about it. I just jumped in with my clothes and shoes on and swam towards the woman and the baby desperately wanting to save them,” Karl told the Times of Malta.
“I could see the woman was worried sick, not about herself but about her poor grandson. At that point, all I thought of was that I had to help. Who would save this poor baby if I didn’t jump in? After all, it’s an act of kindness,” said the boy, who attends The Happy School, in Victoria.
He swam to the Gozitan woman and lifted the little boy, who was struggling helplessly under the water.
“As I was already wearing my clothes and had my shoes on, I felt so heavy when I jumped in and feared I was about to sink but I persevered and swam back to the beach with the little boy in my arms to hand him safely to my grandmother, who was waiting anxiously on land with my twin sister,” Karl recounted.
The baby’s grandmother, who was in a state of shock, was helped ashore by a number of men who happened to be on the beach at the time of the incident.
Apart from swallowing some water, the baby was fine. Both he and his grandmother were given first aid by an ambulance crew who then took the pair to hospital for a thorough check-up.
Karl’s parents, Carmen and Daniel Curmi, said their son was a very kind boy, always trying to be helpful.
“Karl is very responsible. His was a pure act of kindness. He is such a kind boy he felt it was only natural to save the baby and help his grandmother,” they said.
“Since the children were coming home by bus after their swim that day, as they always do, Karl was worried that the bus driver would not let him board the bus in his dripping clothes and shoes. He was relieved when the bus driver had no objection,” his mother said.