An off-duty Patrick County Sheriff’s deputy vacationing in Williamstown, Ky., with his family, helped save a child’s life, according to Sheriff Dan Smith.
Deputy Jesse Pickeral was recently in a hotel pool with his family when he noticed a motionless child at the bottom of the pool, Smith said. “Other kids were playing in the pool, too. It would have been easy to overlook” the motionless child.
Pickeral saw and recovered the child, Smith said. Upon realizing the child had no pulse, Pickeral performed CPR for several minutes, until the child regained a pulse and began to breathe on his own.
Local paramedics responded to the scene and transported the child to the hospital where he is expected to make a full recovery, the sheriff said.
WLWT5, a news outlet covering the Williamstown, Ky., area, reported that the City of Dry Ridge Police Department confirmed a child was airlifted to a Cincinnati hospital after being rescued from a pool on June 27.
Authorities in Dry Ridge told the news outlet the incident occurred around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday (June 27), at the Hampton Inn in Williamstown, Ky., a hotel situated near the Ark Encounter, a popular destination for tourists.
A child was swimming in the hotel pool, the news outlet reported.
“An onlooker, who was a first responder from Virginia, jumped into action. That first responder performed chest compressions, and the boy started spitting up water,” hotel staff told the news crew.
Police there also confirmed that the boy was breathing when he was taken to the hospital, the news outlet reported.
Smith said he learned about the incident when a Kentucky law enforcement agency called “and told me what one of my deputies did, and how appreciative they were.”
The sheriff said Pickeral is being hailed as a hero for his efforts, but “Jesse doesn’t think he’s any kind of hero.” Rather, Pickeral “gives credit to his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for putting him in the right place at the right time to help the little boy.”
A 10-year veteran of the sheriff’s office, Pickeral serves on the department’s tactical response team. He is currently assigned as a School Resource Officer (SRO) at Patrick Springs Elementary School.
