A terrible accident came to a happy ending for one family after their boat capsized near Cocoa, Florida, sending them spilling into the Indian River.
Police were eventually able to rescue all four family members from the waters including the family’s 23-month-old toddler – who police were shocked to discover had survived, for almost an hour, inside the air pocket of their capsized craft.
“These officers are heroes,” Cocoa Mayor Henry Parrish said at a special meeting of City Council Tuesday to honour the police officers involved in the rescue.
“We want to let them know how proud we are of them and how much we appreciate all they do for our city.”
According to the Cocoa Police Department, officers responded to several 911 calls of a boat that had capsized near the Hubert Humphrey Bridge Friday night. When officers arrived, they found the overturned boat as well as several people in the water, and immediately called for the marine rescue unit.
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Tammy Brossard tells News 6 in Orlando that she and her family – including 23-month-old Kennedy and newborn Charlotte – were on their way back from dinner when their small craft hit a guy wire being used to support a telephone pole.
“I had Charlotte in my hands still, and the boat had flipped and I climbed on top of the boat,” Bossard said. She says she could hear Kennedy crying but had no way to find her in the dark.
“I jumped in the water and we tried to search. We couldn’t tell where the crying was coming from. We kept searching and searching,” Brossard said.
Cocoa PD Officers Matt Rush and Alan Worthy were the first to arrive on scene. They immediately pulled the family members to safety, then began trying to locate the missing toddler. Hampering the rescue effort was the fact that it was completely dark by this time, and the officers did not have life jackets, oxygen tanks, or masks.
The officers were eventually able to find Kennedy, trapped inside a small air pocket inside the overturned boat thanks to her life jacket, and bring her to the police rescue boat.
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On the boat was Sgt. Mike Dellatore along with his wife Dora, an emergency room nurse, both of whom had cut their dinner date short when the emergency call came in. They were able to render first aid to the little girl, who had been trapped under the boat for almost an hour.
“Usually, instances like this don’t turn out like that,” Officer Rush said. “A boating accident that severe, with that much damage, could’ve been a lot worse. The air pocket in the boat and the life jacket saved her life.”
“This was an incredible effort on the part of so many people,” Mayor Parrish added. “Everyone from these officers to the firefighters the good Samaritans, police dispatchers and every agency that responded, it truly was a team effort and a miracle.”
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