'Best cry I've ever heard': Dramatic bodycam footage shows cops rescuing 3-yr-old boy from submerged car
MIAMI, FLORIDA: Newly released body-cam video shows the moment police rescued a three-year-old boy who became trapped in a submerged car that was sinking into a canal in south Florida. The horrific incident took place on February 27 when officers responded to the scene in southwest Miami-Dade where a car plunged into a canal near Southwest 232nd Street and 127th Avenue.
The driver, Orlando Valdes, said he and his son, Christopher, were heading home to celebrate his birthday when he felt a car coming in the opposite direction was about to crash into him. He frantically tried to dodge the vehicle but unfortunately veered off the road and plunged into the canal. “I removed my seatbelt and then turned around to try and take my son out of the car seat,” the father told NBC Miami. He somehow managed to get out of the car but failed to get his son out.
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'Somebody had to get in'
Miami-Dade Police Sgt Edward Webster, who was the first officer to arrive at the scene, said it was hard to see the vehicle because it was stuck under the bridge. Despite the darkness, Officer Emanuel Walton went underwater and used his sense of touch to find the child in the murky water. "Somebody had to make the choice to get in, and I just acted," officer Emmanuel Walton III said, according to Fox. In the suspenseful video, Walton was seen executing several unsuccessful attempts before eventually getting the boy out.
"I couldn’t see through the water, so I had to come back up a couple of times," Walton said. "I pulled it as hard as I could, because I couldn’t figure out where the seatbelt was … luckily it broke off." Once the toddler was pulled out of the car seat, he was passed to emergency crew members who immediately performed CPR to resuscitate him. Eventually, the child started breathing again and was rushed to Baptist Health Homestead Hospital.
'I am grateful to God'
"When the baby started crying, I started crying too because it was the best cry I’ve ever heard in my life," Officer Walton said. "It felt good knowing that, you know, although it was a bad day for all of us involved, it turned out to be a great day in the end." Christopher is still in the hospital but his father said he is now in great health. He also thanked officers and paramedics for their relentless efforts. “I am grateful to God, grateful for life, grateful for everyone present that day. They saved our lives," Orlando said.