Was going to /would
Hi, there

Which of THESE sentences is right?

(A woman is writing a post about how she tried to help her autist child pee in the ocean ) :

“Wet and not close enough to him to do anything, I gave up. If having his pants down WOULD help him get it done, I was going to let it be” or “ (...) If having his pants down WAS GOING TO help him get it done, I was going to let it be”

Thank you

Question

Was going to /would
Hi, there

Which of THESE sentences is right?

(A woman is writing a post about how she tried to help her autist child pee in the ocean ) :

“Wet and not close enough to him to do anything, I gave up. If having his pants down WOULD help him get it done, I was going to let it be” or “ (...) If having his pants down WAS GOING TO help him get it done, I was going to let it be”

Thank you

Answer

Either would be OK.
would = in this context the end result of helping him.
was going to = in this context it would start the process of helping him. It would help him as if viewed in  the future.

Going to + was
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/going-to
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/be-going-to

Would is used as in definition number 3 in this link
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/would

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