Fifi Box reveals horrifying moment she saved a drowning baby's life while on holiday in the Maldives: 'I was traumatised'
Fifi Box has revealed how a harrowing ordeal, that saw her leap into action to save a baby's life, left her traumatised.
Recounting the horrific story on her Fox FM Fifi, Fev and Nick show on Tuesday, the radio star told co-hosts Brendan Fevola and Nick Cody that that incident occurred during a family holiday to the Maldives.
Explaining that she wasn't sure if her co-stars would believe her tale, Fifi, 48, enlisted witnesses to back up her story.
'We were in the pool non-stop. But something happened one day in the pool, and I thought if I told you boys, you might not believe me,' Fifi explained.
'So, I found myself a witness, a lovely Australian couple, Emma and Pete from Brisbane.'
Fifi then called on Emma to give her version of the dramatic incident which she said was 'confronting and scary'.
'We were drinking our Pina Colada's by the pool. You were in the water with [youngest daughter] Daisy, and a little girl had spent a lot of time floating around on her own,' Emma explained.
'Someone yelled, "Oh my god, she's gone under!" You turned around, picked her up, and plucked her out of the water. It was very confronting and scary to see.'
When Brendan Fevola asked Emma if his co-host had saved the lucky child's life, Emma said if Fifi hadn't been there, the situation may've taken a darker turn.
'She did [save the baby's life] because her parents weren't in the pool with her - they were on their sun lounge,' Emma said.
'She was probably three, she wasn't in floaties, just a floating ring, and I think she had slipped out.'
Fifi added that the incident had affected her and daughter Daisy so much, they had to leave the pool.
'There was deathly silence around the pool for minutes afterwards. I started crying and had to leave - Daisy and I left because it was too confronting,' she said.
'I was the only adult in the pool, and I turned around; she would have been 10 metres from me but under the water.
'We were in the pool non-stop. But something happened one day in the pool, and I thought if I told you boys, you might not believe me,' Fifi explained. 'So, I found myself a witness, a lovely Australian couple, Emma and Pete from Brisbane'
'We were drinking our Pina Colada's by the pool. You were in the water with [youngest daughter] Daisy, and a little girl had spent a lot of time floating around on her own,' Emma explained. 'Someone yelled, "Oh my god, she's gone under!" You turned around, picked her up, and plucked her out of the water. It was very confronting and scary to see'
'We didn't know how long she had been under for. I plucked her up, and she was vomiting water all over me. It was horrible.'
Fellow witness Pete added that it was fortunate that it was Fifi that was called upon to spring into action.
'I was probably three pina coladas in so it was lucky it was you in the water,' Pete said to Fifi.
Continuing the conversation with her co-stars, Fifi added that she was surprised by the lackadaisical response from the child's parents.
'The mum didn't even get off the sun lounge,' she said.
'I'm actually fascinated because I've now been tested. I'm someone who freezes; whenever something goes wrong, I'm the person who can't move.
'When I saw that baby go under, I just raced to her. I was really traumatised.'
Fifi added: 'When she was vomiting and coming back to life – she was limp – so when she started to breathe and get all the water out… but the Mum hadn't moved. Everyone just stood around. I was visibly shaken.'
Another caller, Liz, also phoned in to back up Fifi's story revealing that she and her daughter witnessed the incident unfold.
Fifi has two children - Trixie, 11 and Daisy, five.
She shares Trixie with with former Ironman and Olympian Grant Kenny, while Fifi welcomed Daisy in 2019 via IVF and an anonymous sperm donor.
In November, the radio personality told Stellar magazine she's proud to have her media platform to show diverse families to everyday Aussies.
'It's important to point out and educate that families come in all different shapes and sizes,' she said at the time.
'Because I'm in the media and have a profile and platform, I'm able to shape and shift that, but it is frustrating,' she added.
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