The Girl Who Was Just Reading a Book

A college student reading by Lake Washington looked up, saw three girls struggling in the water, and went in — one by one. What happened next, in her own words.

Lillie Vehling had a book open in her lap and the sky in front of her, waiting like everyone else at Genesee Park for the Blue Angels to roar past over Lake Washington. It was Friday, August 7, the middle of Seafair weekend in Seattle, and the beach was full.

She looked up from the page — a habit, maybe, or luck — and scanned the water the way people who've spent years around pools sometimes do without thinking about it. Fifteen yards out, three girls were struggling. Not waving. Struggling.

Vehling kicked off her shoes, pulled off her sunglasses, and went in.

She played water polo at UC Davis. She'd been a certified lifeguard for years, ran her own swim lessons. None of that made the next few minutes easy. She reached the first girl and swam her back to shore. Went back out. Reached the second. Went back for the third — and the third girl wasn't fighting anymore. She was barely floating, unconscious, one leg tangled in a buoy rope anchoring the swim line.

Vehling got an arm under her, lifted her face clear of the water, and held her there until she could get her untangled and moving toward the sand. By then, someone on the beach had already called 911. Seattle Fire Department paramedics took over when they arrived; one girl was taken to Seattle Children's Hospital in stable condition.

That evening, Seafair's president, Emily Cantrell, found Vehling and asked her to come to the festival's gala. On stage, they knighted her: Lady Guardian of Lake Washington. It's a nice title. It's also, in a way, beside the point.

Asked how she knew to look, Vehling didn't describe training or instinct. She said something simpler: 'I could see their faces from where I was sitting. And they needed help.'

People who look up, and keep looking, are not as rare as the news makes them seem. Open the map — GoodPeopleMap — and you'll find them.

Source: KOMO News