‘They told me not to jump, but I ignored them’: water-polo player who rescued youths dragged out at sea

Former water-polo player Sean Meli opened up to TVMNews+ about saving a young Chinese national from drowning in Sliema on Wednesday evening.

Meli said that he would have been traumatised for life had the 14-year-old not made it when he was able to jump in and rescue him.

The 33-year-old surfer, a confident swimmer, said that he was not daunted by the strong waves and impulsively jumped into the water at Chalet to rescue the boy.

READ MORE: Heroic Sliema man jumps into choppy waters to save victim dragged out at sea

He had noticed the youth struggling in the water on his way to a work dinner.

Meli said the police tried to stop him from jumping in, however, he ignored their attempts.

In the water, Meli said that the boy had started to panic: “I told him that if he panicked and held me, we would both drown. I slapped him on the face with the water, and he came to his senses….”

The two Chinese nationals were dragged out to the sea at around 7pm after southeast winds whipped up strong waves around the east coast. The woman was rescued by the Armed Forces of Malta.