One Florida dad with some insane reflexes was caught leaping into a dive over a four-foot-tall fence to rescue his one-year-old son after he had fallen in the family’s swimming pool.
“Baby gates only work when you close them,” the father, Albert Passavanti wrote alongside a video showing home security footage of his heroic leap.
Passavanti and his family were hanging out on the back patio of their Palm Beach County, Florida home when the incident happened. His wife and daughter were in their family pool and he and others were lounging poolside in the shade.
Within an instant, the day went from relaxing to terrifying as his 20-month-old son, Rocco, chased a ball that had landed in the pool. Rocco went straight through the open pool gate and reached for the ball, but lost his balance and slipped into the water.
Albert Passavanti told WPTV that Rocco hasn’t quite learned how to swim yet, and thus, without blinking an eye he dove head-first over the gate and into the pool to rescue his son.
“The second you see it, you get Superman strength and just have to go for it,” Passavanti recalled. “Whatever you got to do.”
“It didn’t even cross my mind to go around,” he explained to the local news outlet. “It was point A to point B.”
Luckily, his son was just fine after the incident – but Passavanti said that just because you have safeguards like a pool gate doesn’t mean that you’ll always be 100% safe. Accidents can happen, like leaving the pool gate open.
“Heads-up parenting, watch what’s going on. Keep your eyes on your kids,” he advised on-air. “You’ve got these preventative measures, make sure you use them properly.”
Check out his heroic leap to save young Rocco below.