Woman rescues preteen from kidnap attempt by pretending to be girl's mother

An unnamed Good Samaritan’s quick thinking is being credited with saving a 12-year-old girl from being kidnapped by a woman believed to be homeless, KTLA reports.

Amy Martinez of Santa Ana, Calif., told reporters that she walking to school when a strange woman, later identified as Claudia Hernandez Diaz, approached her.

“She just came up to me and went like this,” Martinez said, describing Diaz’s bear hug. “And then she started walking with me away. She told me in Spanish not to cry, but I wasn’t even crying.”

The Lathrop Intermediate School student screamed for help, prompting a female bystander to take action. Cpl. Anthony Bertagna of the Santa Ana police told KTLA that the woman, who also has a student at the school, pretended to be Martinez’s mother and was able to get Diaz to release the girl. She then accompanied Martinez to class, while Diaz was later arrested.

“I was thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m going to live,'” the preteen said of the woman’s heroic intervention.

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

• Fitness model Jen Selter kicked off Miami flight by police

• United Airlines cancels ticket of woman trying to see her dying mother

• ‘I flew to Paris for $480 and was shocked when I saw my seat’

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.