A CAFE worker has been hailed as a hero after rescuing a schoolboy from drowning in Mordialloc Creek.
Maarouf Matar ran with a workmate from Doyles Hotel to save 12-year-old Michael Martin from the depths of the creek after the boy accidentally fell in while riding his bike to school.
The schoolboy panicked when his schoolbag weighed him down after falling into the creek.
Mr Matar, 32, walked along a docked boat and pulled Michael from the cold water.
“I felt special that I was actually being cared for and people were actually nice enough to help me and get me out,” Michael told 7 News Melbourne.
Paramedics arrived to make sure Michael was safe after the ordeal.
His mother Gen hailed Mr Matar as their family’s hero.
“How do you repay someone who saved your son’s life?”.
Mr Matar, originally from Lebanon, told 7 News Melbourne he did not hesitate when he looked up and looked out the window while at work and saw Michael plunge into Mordialloc Creek.
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News – 22 August 2018
