WEEKI WACHEE, Fla. — Hernando County deputies are being hailed as heroes for saving an infant who nearly drowned in the Weeki Wachee River late last week.
- Incident occurred Friday
- Infant was not wearing life jacket
- More Hernando County news
This all happened on Friday about two miles upriver from Rogers Park. The deputies on the water that day said they were just in the right place at the right time.
They said a family with a four-month-old infant had trouble navigating their canoe and it tipped over.
The infant, not wearing a life jacket, was trapped underwater in her car seat.
Luckily, Marine Deputy Steve Snell and Deputy Zach Burkhart were stopped nearby. They heard the mother yell and rushed to get the infant out of the water.
“When I didn’t see the baby cry or anything like that, a lot of things were running through my head, how far up river we were,” Burkhart said.
Shortly after the deputies brought the infant to the shoreline they say she opened her eyes and started breathing.
“When I saw the baby’s eyes open and start to cry that was like a relief,” Burkhart explained.
The infant was taken to the hospital and is doing OK.
Burkhart was training with Snell on the water Friday. Snell said without him, the rescue would have been much more difficult.
“Without Deputy Burkhart’s help that day this really would have been a huge issue for myself being even just the full-time officer and that we were beached at the area where this occurred it’s just a blessing,” Snell said.
The infant reportedly was wearing a life jacket given to them by the rental site when they first got on the river, but it’s unknown when and why it was removed.
Snell did issue a citation to the father for personal flotation device not worn by a child under the age of 6.