A homeless man pulled a drowning boy out of the river, but instead of thanking him, the boy’s mother started yelling at him 

The November wind cut through the skin, bringing a damp, penetrating cold from the river. Between the peeling concrete garages, a five-year-old boy was playing. His mother stood a little ways off, holding her phone to her ear and laughing at her friend’s jokes.

The boy moved closer to the drop-off near the river while his mother was distracted. That day, the water was murky and rough — recent rains had made the current stronger. One wrong step — and the boy fell screaming into the water, his heavy jacket pulling him down immediately.

The mother didn’t notice anything. She kept talking on the phone, only occasionally glancing around absentmindedly.

The boy tried to get out, but the current was pulling him away from the shore. He was choking, gasping for cold air.

At that moment, on the other side of the river, appeared a man who usually inspired only scorn among the locals — a thin, unkempt man everyone simply called “Erlich.” A homeless man who lived in an abandoned house nearby.

He heard the child’s cry and without a second’s hesitation jumped into the icy water in his dirty clothes. He didn’t stop until he reached the boy and grabbed him by the collar.

The boy was sobbing, pale and shivering. Erlich pulled him to the shore and wrapped him in his torn cloak.

When he brought the boy back to the house, the mother finally noticed them and screamed:

— Did you touch my son? You creep!

— He was drowning…

— Better he drowned than end up in your filthy hands!

Erlich looked at her in disbelief. He felt hurt, but more than that, he was afraid for the boy. Seeing this woman shouting without even checking if her son was alive seemed unimaginable.

Then Erlich did something very unexpected, but fair…  Continued in the first comment 

He made an unexpected decision: he hugged the boy to himself again and turned abruptly.

— Hey! Bring him back! — the woman screamed, but didn’t dare approach.

Erlich calmly left, walked to the house of an elderly neighbor, a kind and attentive woman, and knocked on her door.

— Help the boy, — he said, breathless. — Call the police. His mother nearly killed him, you saw it.

The neighbor immediately dialed. The police came and took the mother away, who kept shouting insults.

After an investigation, the mother lost parental rights. The boy stayed temporarily with the neighbor and was later placed with a foster family.