By Joanna Putman
Police1
DELAND, Fla. — A Florida deputy is being praised after rescuing a 5-year-old boy with autism who wandered away from home and was found in a pond, WFLA reported.
The boy’s family called 911 when an alarm on a second-story door alerted them to his disappearance, according to the report. Upon arrival, Deputy Wes Brough began searching the home and quickly focused on nearby ponds and lakes.
Body camera footage shows Brough searching near a pond when he hears the child’s voice.
“He’s out here somewhere. I got him! I got him!” the deputy shouts to fellow officers.
The video then captures Brough rushing into the water to save the 5-year-old, who was clinging to a log. Brough safely carries the boy out of the water and reunites him with his family shortly afterward.
In a Facebook post, the sheriff’s office confirmed that the family had taken several measures to secure their home, including installing the alarm system that alerted them to the boy’s disappearance.
Brough expressed his gratitude for being in the right place at the right time.
“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,” Brough said in a reel shared by the sheriff’s office.