VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office released body-cam footage showing a deputy’s rescue of a child from a pond in Deltona on Tuesday night.
Deputies responded to a report of a missing child around 7:30 p.m. at a home on Valmont Lane, according to the sheriff’s office. The 5-year-old boy’s father told deputies he had escaped the house through a second-story door, which set off an alarm and alerted the family. They immediately called 911 and began looking for the child, asking neighbors to help.
The family informed the deputies that the boy had autism and was attracted to water.
Officials said Wednesday in a statement on Facebook that the deputies searched the house and nearby area but were unable to locate the child. They started searching bodies of water near the neighborhood when Deputy Wes Brough spotted the boy out in a pond behind Toluca Court, hanging onto a log.
The body-cam footage depicts the deputies’ initial search in the woods surrounding the area when, after a few minutes, Deputy Brough spots the boy in the water. The recording shows his swift reaction, as he immediately jumps into the pond and carries the boy to dry land.
“I thank God a lot -- for putting me in that position, one, and allowing that kid to be above water and breathing fine when we got there. It’s all glory to God and putting me in the right place at the right time.” Brough said a day after the rescue. “I have three children of my own, one being a 5-year-old, so to have him hold onto me tightly like that, it really felt like it was my own kid holding onto me.”
The boy was then medically cleared and returned to his family, according to officials. It was confirmed the family had taken several measures to secure the house.
All deputies have received Autism Awareness training to help them prepare to respond to a wide variety of calls involving those with autism, including missing children, according to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office.
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