Good Samaritan firefighters turned over assistance on Monday, Sept. 16, to the family of a 4-year-old boy who drowned in a river in Barangay Taculing, Bacolod City.
The firefighters pooled their resources to help the family of James Arnaiz after Bacolod Fire Marshal FSupt. Jenny Mae Masip shared a Facebook post of his sister appealing for help.
The 4-year-old boy along with his mother, Michelle Arnaiz, and two siblings were walking towards their house next to the Taculing bridge when he and his 7-year-old brother slipped and feel into the flooded river on Friday afternoon, Sept. 13, FO2 Paul Servano, Bacolod Fire Station spokesman, said.
The 7-year-old was able to swim back to his mother who was holding another child, but the 4-year-old who did not know how to swim drowned, he added.
The mother who works as a laundrywoman has 13 children, Servano said.
The Bacolod firefighters and on-the-job trainees led by Masip who pooled their personal resources were able to raise P8,791 among themselves, which they gave to the family along with bread, coffee and noodles, he added.*