Eslam Saad

Eslam Saad saved a girl from drowning, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, June 15, 2025. The girl, 10, struggled in a rip current in the Atlantic Ocean off a beach after lifeguards left for the evening. She and her sister, 11, had been playing in shallow water when the current swept them out. Their father ran in to help the girls. On the beach, Saad, 32, chemist, heard screaming and saw the girl struggling to stay afloat about 120 feet from shore. He ran into the surf, waded a few feet, swam out to the girl, and grabbed her hand. She wrapped her arms around his neck and submerged him. He tried to pull her arms away, but she would not let go. He turned to shore and started swimming underwater with the girl clinging to his neck, occasionally surfacing for air. When Saad reached shallower water, he touched bottom and stood. The girl climbed onto his shoulders and then jumped into the shallow surf. Saad walked onto the beach as lifeguards arrived and helped the girl to shore. Saad collapsed in the sand, where first-responders treated him. The girl remained on the beach with her sister, who had also escaped from the water, while ocean rescue personnel swam out to search for their father. They found him unconscious in 8 feet of water about 150 feet from shore. He was taken to a hospital but could not be revived. He had drowned. The girl was uninjured but taken to a hospital for observation. An ambulance also took Saad to the hospital, where he was treated for near drowning and recovered.