Police, Good Samaritans rescue 2 girls, mother from drowning on Long Island

MASTIC BEACH, N.Y. (WABC) -- Suffolk County police officers and Good Samaritans rescued two girls and their mother from a possible drowning at Smith Point Park in Mastic Beach Sunday.

"The waves were just pulling us back in, we couldn't get out," 15-year-old Andreina Collado said. "When it started pulling us in farther we started yelling for help."

Andreina and her 11-year-old sister Jairianny Collado thought it was the end.

A fun swim at quickly turned dangerous as a riptide came in, pushing the girls beneath the water. Lifeguards were off-duty at the time.

"I was like Jesus, please help me," Jairianny said. "God please help me and my sister get out of this."

"So what we decided to do was yell for help, so someone could hear us," Andreina added.

And someone did.

Suffolk County Police Marine Bureau Officer Chris DeFeo was on routine patrol.

"Very lucky to be there," he said. "I'm very happy I was there."

He saw one of the girls' relatives, Ray Harkins, already running in to get to them, but the water had pulled the girls far away from each other.

"I asked him he's OK to bring this girl in, he said yes," DeFeo said. "I said, OK, if you're not let me know. At that time, I proceeded onto the other girl, who was about 100 yards off the shoreline."

He quickly reached Jairianny.

"He told me I needed to lay down on my back, and he just held me," she said.

While this was all happening, the girls' mother, Nancy Collado, was standing on the beach helpless. She waded into the water and passed out from shock.

Another beachgoer pulled her out of the waist-deep water and onto the shore.

"But everything is OK," Nancy said. "We are all OK, thank God."

The three victims were transported to Brookhaven Memorial Hospital in East Patchogue, where they were treated and released.