The day Donald Trump saved my daughter
"Without him, she had no chance of getting out," says Yves Cohen, owner of a shop in Terre-de-Haut on the islands of Saintes in Guadeloupe.
"It was a winter afternoon in 1989, the high season with us in Terre-de-Haut, in the islands of Saintes in Guadeloupe. I was in my exotic clothing store selling items to customers. Suddenly I hear screams. I rush over and see Donald Trump, soaking wet, holding my struggling 16-year-old daughter Sina, just as wet. "Are you the father?" he yells. He is furious, but I don't understand why, or why my daughter looks panicked. "You are crazy to leave her alone!" He says to me. Trump is literally belching against me. I don't understand everything he is telling me, but I do understand that he calls me all names. He is all red and looks in shock, as if some drama has just happened. What I don't know yet is that he just saved my daughter.
Sina suffers from autism, in one of its most severe forms. She must always be accompanied. But the caregiver who was with her that day had to be absent to use the bathroom. Sina loves water but can't swim. I live by the bay. Without anyone holding her back, she approached and began to walk in the sea, but very quickly she slipped, because there the seabed is steeply sloping. Hearing his cries, Donald Trump intervened. He dived into the water fully clothed to get it out.
He is the only one to have reacted
I knew he was passing through. His yacht, the Trump Princess, was moored directly opposite. It was the attraction of the moment. A few minutes before the tragedy, I had spotted him having a drink with some friends at the Café de la Marine, right next to my house. He wasn't bringing her back particularly, just, it was impossible to miss him, because of his tall stature and unmistakable look. He looked like he was having a good time.
I never heard from him again until the recent US presidential election. I'm not particularly interested in politics, but when I hear the harsh criticisms leveled at it, I can't help but think back to that moment. For me, Donald Trump remains the one who saved my daughter. Without him, she had no chance of getting through. There were a lot of people on the terrace of the Café de la Marine where he was seated. He is the only one to have reacted. And for that, I say thank you. ”
