What would you do if a young boy pushed your young daughter to the ground?

My 5 year old daughter and I were spending a lovely day at the park today. She was playing with another boy her age when a boy (approx. same age) came up and took the small toy that they were playing with. My daughter went up to this boy and told him that it wasn’t his and that he should give it back. This boy pushed my daughter on the chest so hard that her feet came off the ground and she landed hard on her butt.

I immediately ran over and the young boy walked away. I followed him and asked him where his parents were. He would not answer. I followed him for five minutes until he went up to his guardian. She was either a babysitter or a very young mom. I told her what happened and she looked dumbfounded. She said sorry and that it would never happen again. She let her son run around the playground for the next hour. Every time my daughter saw him she looked scared.

If this was my son, he would have gone straight home and spent the rest of the day in his room.

When I told my husband about the situation, he told our daughter that if it ever happened again that she should push the person back and defend herself.

I’m just curious what others would have done in this type of situation and would you suggest that your daughter fight back?