Heidi Klum has had held several job titles throughout her life.  She was a model, host and judge of a reality TV show and actress.  She can now add “lifeguard” and “hero” to the list.

Klum had quite a scare while vacationing in Oahu last week when her 7-year-old son Henry and his two nannies got caught in a riptide and came close to drowning.

As terrifying as it must have been for the mom to see her child in danger,  Klum and her boyfriend Martin Kirsten were able to swim out and bring everyone safely ashore.  “Of course, as a mother, I was very scared for my child and everyone else in the water,” Klum stated.

Klum went after her son and helped pull him to safety while Kirsten swam after one of the nannies.  After Klum made sure Henry was okay, she swam back after the second nanny and brought her to shore.

While accidents and near-drownings do happen in the ocean, perhaps the most surprising part of the story was that no one offered to assist Klum or her boyfriend in their rescue efforts.

A photographer took pictures of the rescue, and the choice to photograph the events rather than provide assistance has left many people, including Klum and her family, stunned.  “The family was surprised that we were being photographed and no one would come help us,” Klum said.

Perhaps the lack of assistance from anyone at the beach, including the photographer, comes on the heels of a few stories where someone provided assistance to a swimmer in distress and got in trouble for it.  For example, in early March a UK man wrestled a shark away from some kids on a beach in Australia.  Despite his heroic efforts, he was later fired for misusing vacation time.  And last summer, a lifeguard who saved a drowning man was fired for rescuing someone outside of the guarded area.

The lack of assistance could have stemmed from the “no good deed goes unpunished” mindset, a photographer not wanting to miss out on the opportunity to capture a dramatic rescue, or maybe no one close enough to help was a good swimmer.  Regardless, Henry and his nannies are very fortunate that Klum and Kirsten were able to reach them in time.