The kindness of a group of lifeguards who were spotted carrying a 95-year-old vacationer across an Alabama beach is being commended.
Kimberly Waterbury of Chandler, Indiana, and her 95-year-old mother, Dottie Schneider, travelled to Orange Beach in October for a Gulf Coast trip.
Schneider, who uses a wheelchair, was unable to stroll through the sand on her own. After a guard initially noticed Waterbury assisting Schneider along the beach, the Beach Safety Division of the City of Orange Beach went above and above. She accepted the guard’s offer of a ride in his beach patrol car.
The guard gave the field office number was given to her by the guard, and she called each morning to inform the guards that they were ready to go to the beach.
Brett Lesinger, the Beach Safety Division Chief in the City of Orange, told Fox News that Schneider couldn’t go to the beachfront and had to sit by the pool deck, but now, that has since changed.
“Being able to put her feet in the sand and seeing the waves crash on the shore, I think that made all the difference,” he added.
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To assist Schneider and her daughter, the guards in the region would coordinate picking her up from her hotel and transporting her to the beach chair set they had hired. Shane Martin, a lifeguard, stepped forward to help four days in a row with a smile on his face.
Afterwards, the guards gathered to say their goodbyes and wish them well when the family left on Friday.
Despite numerous attempts to tip the lifeguards, their offers were politely refused every time. The young men insisted they were performing a public service and “All the pay we need is watching her smile.”
“They made my mother feel special. She was not made to feel like she was a burden on anybody,”’ Waterbury, who was moved by the sweet gesture, told AL.com.
She added: “I can’t wait to go back. It was magical. Better than going to Disney World. These guys earned their wings for the way they treated my mom. All of them genuinely cared.”
Indy100 reached out to the Orange Beach Surf Rescue for comment.
