Pool rental mixup in Oshawa, Ont. leads to unexpected act of generosity

TORONTO -

It was a day at the pool they never expected.

On Sunday afternoon, Amanda Fernandez rented time in an Oshawa backyard to treat her cousin Camille Forsythe and her kids, Mateo and Ava, to a swim.

But there was a mixup with the address and while the group searched, they couldn’t find the pool they thought they had rented.

The foursome was looking around one location when a man on the street asked if he could help.

“The neighbour of that house comes out and says ‘I’m pretty sure you’re not robbing that house with coolers and kids,’” Fernandez explained.

‘We’re like ‘no!’ We tell him the situation. He was so nice,” she said.

Turns out, the neighbour was Toronto Police Superintendent Dave Rydzik. They had no idea at the time he was an officer.

“We thought oh my God, this was amazing. He’s Google Earth-ing, cross referencing the backyards. This is like so above and beyond. I can’t believe even what’s happening kind of thing,” said Forsythe.

With what happened to the rented backyard still a mystery, Rydzik came up with the next best solution, and offered the family his pool for the swim.

“It was just terrible. You can imagine how excited they were about the pool,” Rydzik said.

“They’re standing there with squirt guns and towels ready to go and they’ve figured out we’re not going to have a swim at the pool today. I thought there is no way I can let this happen.”

Not wanting to intrude, the family originally declined, until Rydzik says his wife used her charm to extend the invitation.

Then seven-year-old Ava said her piece: “Yes to swim. We want to swim,” she said.

And so, they decided to go for a swim.

“I liked that we played in the pool and we also jumped in the pool,” said six-year-old Mateo.

So touched by the gesture, Fernandez and Forsythe sent Rydzik a gift and thank you note, reading, “Thank you so much for your generosity for allowing us to use your pool yesterday. We hope you enjoy and it puts a smile on your face as you did ours!”

“That made our day and I think that’s what its all about, just help people out and do good deeds,” said Rydzik in response to the gift and message.

Yesterday a family with 2 young kids showed up at our door saying they had rented our pool. Turns out they were #scammed & out $125. We felt so bad we let them use it anyway for free & they all had a blast. 2day this showed up. A small gesture of #kindness can make someone’s day pic.twitter.com/XT9BLDreoU

— Dave Rydzik (@TPSRydzik) July 6, 2021

The encounter, a win-win for a day at the pool not lost and kindness when you least expect it.

“We came home and told our family how crazy and nice these people were. It’s just heartwarming in these times that people are so kind and nice,” said Fernandez.

“Dave and his wife, they pulled out extra stuff for them [the kids] to play and swim. They were fantastic. And even they [the kids] commented how kind the couple was to offer that. Such an amazing experience,” said Forsythe.