By Suzie Ziegler
NEW YORK — An NYPD officer says her competitive swimming background made the difference last week when she saved a woman from drowning, ABC 7 reported.
New bodycam video shows Officer Emily Healy jumping into the Central Park reservoir to rescue a distressed woman. Healy said she and Sgt. Matthew Moschetto were patrolling nearby when a passerby told them a woman had gone into the water. The woman was fully dressed and about 15 yards out when the officers found her.
“We tried to call her back on to shore, like, ‘Hey come back,’ communicate with her, see if she could get back herself. [But] said she didn’t know how,” said Healy. “As we’re watching her, I noticed that her head starts to dip under the water.”
That’s when Healy sprang into action. Luckily, she was more than prepared. Healy is on the NYPD’s swim team and swam competitively in school.
“I swam in high school and college and competed year-round for that, so while it wasn’t the warmest pool I’ve ever been in, it’s good, and it was nice to say I have the skillset to go help this woman,” Healy told ABC 7.
In the video, Healy clears a chest-high fence and jumps into the water in full uniform. She swiftly swims out and returns with the woman tucked under her arm.
Healy said the woman was very thankful.
“She was very grateful, said thank you, and said she couldn’t swim and didn’t know what she would do if we weren’t there,” Healy said.
The woman was taken to a hospital and is expected to be OK, according to the report.