ORLANDO, Fla. (WESH) — At the Floridays Resort on International Drive in Orlando is Robert Mejias, who works as a bellman.
He’s everything you’d want in a bellman — friendly, efficient, and on an average day, he does it all.
“Just helping guests with the luggage… taking them to the rooms,” Mejias said. “I cook too. I help in the kitchen.”
However, Aug. 24, 2020, was no average day. Mejias was on the second floor looking out and spotted a 2-year-old boy floating in the pool.
“I got to get down there and save him. I gotta get down there and save him,” he said.
Mejias raced down the stairs and by the time he got there, the boy had been pulled out.
“They were shaking him telling him to wake up. And I told them I have to do CPR, I have to get him back,” he said.
Two weeks earlier, the general manager had all the employees in the resort do CPR training, and Mejias was a bit skeptical.
“Because I’m a bellman, what am I ever going to need CPR training for?” resort GM Cedric Pas said.
Two weeks later, Mejias used that training to save a young life.
“I kind of got scared because I thought we lost him. But I wasn’t going to stop, and finally, he opened his eyes,” he said.
Mejias got an industry-wide award as “Outstanding Bell Person” for the year in a year that was especially challenging for the hospitality industry.
“They are so incredibly humble because they are here to serve. And in this case, this was an amazing example of service,” said Robert Agrusa, the president of the Central Florida Hotel & Lodging Association.
Mejias said his real reward was seeing the little boy alive and well.
