The sheriff’s office reports that Beach Patrol Officer Tyler Sweeney and other officers saw beachgoer Steven Insco carrying a small boy and girl out of the water. Then they heard a young boy yelling, “Help me! Help me!” from the water.
“Officer Sweeney stripped off his vest and gear, grabbed a buoy, and dove into the water to find the boy who was calling for help,” the sheriff’s office said on Facebook . He was able to find the drowning boy and brought him back to shore.
While Sweeney was rescuing the boy. Officer Billy Crocker tended to an unconscious 8-year-old girl who had been pulled from the water by the beachgoer and prepared to begin CPR. After Crocker gave her a sternum rub, she began to show signs of recovery, the sheriff’s office said.
Jacksonville Fire and Rescue arrived, started oxygen, and transported the girl to a local hospital for treatment.
Officer Crocker checked on the girl at the hospital Sunday and found out she had improved and would be released soon.