By Khalida Sarwari and Patricia Decker
A man who was hailed as a hero after jumping into a San Jose pool and saving a father and his young daughter from drowning on Wednesday night does not feel his actions were extraordinary and said he was simply helping his friends, a spokeswoman for the fire department said.
“He doesn’t feel like a hero,” fire Capt. Mary Gutierrez said. “Those are his friends and he loves them.”
Gutierrez said the man has declined interviews with the media because he is still processing the incident and is spending time with the family.
“All he wants to do is be with them right now,” she said.
Gutierrez said the father has been released from the hospital and is doing well. His 6-year-old daughter remains in the hospital and is continuing to be observed.
The events of Thursday night unfolded around 8:55 p.m. at a housing complex in the area of Bollinger Road and Miller Avenue.
A man in his early 40s was swimming in a pool with his daughter on his shoulders, but at some point, some residents relaxing in the community’s hot tub about 25 feet away noticed that their voices had fallen silent, fire Capt. Rob Brown said.
The friend leapt into action and ran over to the pool, where he saw two bodies at the bottom and dove into the water. The man pulled them out and started CPR, and within seconds the unconscious man and girl began to come around, Brown said.
The father and daughter were conscious, but still having difficulty breathing when paramedics arrived, he said.