Four Orange County law enforcement officers saved a seven-year-old boy and his 22-year-old sister from a pond behind the Moose Lodge in Hillsborough Sunday afternoon.

Deputies initially responded to reports of a young child running down Highway 70 near Holiday Park Road at around 4:30 p.m. that day, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s office. Deputies Joseph Winecoff, Chad Boggs, Brian Cates and Corporal Jeff Jenkins responded to the call and located the two siblings in the pond. The sister was struggling to pull the boy, who is non-verbal and has other special needs, out of the water before Winecoff entered the pond and pulled them both out.

The Sheriff’s Office is not releasing the names of the siblings out of respect for the family’s privacy. Winecoff will be awarded a lifesaving medal for his efforts.

“I am so glad the child is okay and I am grateful to Boggs, Cates, and Jenkins,” Winecoff said. “They all played a huge part in this rescue. I am just the one that got wet. I also want to stress how important the sister’s efforts were. She kept her brother from going under the water and gave us the necessary time to locate them and pull them from the pond before events turned tragic.”

“This is an example of why great working relationships with our neighboring law enforcement agencies are so important,” said Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood. “When seconds matter, we respond as one.”

 

Featured image via Orange County Sheriff’s Office

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