GLENDALE, Ariz. — A Glendale police officer reunited with the toddler he helped save from drowning Tuesday afternoon.
Officer Jacob Gonzales,who has been with the department for 1-and-a-half years, saw the 2-year-old and her family for the first time at a Glendale Police Department press conference since he visited her in the hospital the day after she nearly drowned.
On Aug. 5, around 9 p.m., Glendale patrol officers were on call near 59th Avenue and Cactus Road to assist someone in crisis. As they were in the home, a father began banging on the front door, calling for help from police.
Officer Gonzales ran to the front door, where a father was holding his 2-year-old daughter in his arms. He told Officer Gonzales she had drowned in the family's pool.
Officer Gonzales laid the toddler on the ground and began infant CPR.
In video of the rescue from Officer Gonzales's body-worn camera, you can hear the father desperately plead as the officer performs compressions and rescue breaths on an unresponsive toddler. Suddenly, she begins to cry, and the officers carry her to a waiting ambulance.
The Glendale Fire Department was already responding to the scene for the crisis the officers were originally assisting with and were able to continue life-saving efforts.
Though the scene was dramatic, Officer Gonzales was completely focused on helping the girl as he performed CPR.
"I would say the emotions hit afterward, when the toddler was in the hospital," Gonzales said.
But Officer Gonzales says he's no hero; he says he was just doing what any trained officer would do.
Gonzales said it was a coordinated effort among other officers, medical responders and hospital staff that saved the 2-year-old's life.
"They're also my heroes too. Without them, this probably wouldn't have been the way it was," he said.