‘Best cry I’ve ever heard’: Cops describe relief after saving unconscious boy, 3, trapped in his car seat, completely submerged – and reviving him with CPR
- Boy was trapped in seat after car had plunged into canal following a car crash
- Rescuing officer had to pull car seat ‘as hard as he could’ to break child free
- Another officer gave the boy CPR and kept telling him ‘you’re going to be fine’
Officers have described the utter relief after they battled to save an unconscious three-year-old boy who was trapped in his car seat and completely submerged by water for three minutes before he was rescued and revived with CPR by the police.
The child was trapped in his seat after the car had plunged into a canal following a car crash, according to the Miami-Dade Police Department in Florida, which was called to the rescue.
Despite ‘heroic efforts’, the driver was unable to get the boy out of the car, even after good Samaritans saw the accident and tried to help.
In suspenseful body camera footage that has now been released of the February 27 accident, officers can be seen rushing into the murky water to free the toddler.
Officer Emmanuel Walton III rescued the boy and said when he had to make the choice whether to get into the water, he ‘just acted’.
The child was trapped in his seat after the car had plunged into a canal following a car crash (pictured), according to the Miami-Dade Police Department in Florida, which was called to the rescue
Officer Emmanuel Walton III (right) rescued the boy and said when he had to make the choice whether to get into the water, he ‘just acted’. Officer Michael Montesino (right) immediately began CPR and once the boy started breathing again, he was rushed to Baptist Health Homestead Hospital in Florida
He told Fox News: ‘I couldn’t see through the water, so I had to come back up a couple of times.’
He added that when he was able to feel the car seat he pulled as hard as he could as he couldn’t find the seatbelt and ‘luckily it broke off’.
The child was eventually pulled out of the submerged car and was passed to the emergency crew that was waiting nearby.
Officer Michael Montesino immediately began CPR and once the boy started breathing again, he was rushed to Baptist Health Homestead Hospital in Florida.
He said he kept talking to the boy and telling him ‘you’re going to be fine, you’re okay’.
He tried to see if any water was coming out of the child’s mouth, until he finally turned the boy on his side and shouted out that the three-year-old was breathing again.
Officer Walton added: ‘When the baby started crying I started crying too, because it was the best cry I’ve ever heard in my life.’
The conditions for the rescue were not easy, as it was ‘actually hard to see the car, because the car was stuck under the bridge,’ Sgt. Edward Webster said.
