8-year-old reunited with Suffolk cops who crawled across cracking ice to save him from frozen pond on Christmas: ‘FREEDOM!’
An 8-year-old boy was reunited with the three Suffolk County hero-cops who saved his life after he fell through a frozen pond at his apartment complex on Christmas.
Tayvion, a third grader who was playing outside his Patchogue home, tried to cross a partially frozen pond as a shortcut back to his apartment when the ice collapsed underneath him.
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“Thank you,” the child said with a smile as he hugged officers Andrew Tirelli, James Rizzo, and Michael Santillo — who were all awarded on Friday for their hard work and bravery in saving Tayvion, whose family asked his last name not be used.
On Christmas Day, Tayvion was left holding onto the melting ice for dear life and screaming for help, prompting a crowd to gather as someone called 911 just after 1 p.m. and police rushed to the scene to pull the child out of the freezing pond.
When officers Tirelli and Rizzo first arrived at the scene, they attempted to save Tayvion using a life preserver and a rope — but the child was unable to hang on for long enough to be pulled to safety.
After numerous failed attempts, as Tayvion was freezing in the blistering cold water, Sgt. Santillo decided to take matters into his own hands and bear-crawled across the cracking ice to the child.
Eventually, the ice broke from under him as well — but luckily, Santillo was tall enough to stand in the pond and lugged the child to shore with his bare hands.
“FREEDOM!” the child screamed as Santillo lifted him out of the water, according to the body camera footage shared by police.
At Friday’s ceremony, police celebrated Tayvion and honored all three officers for their life-saving work on Christmas Day.
“While many were home enjoying Christmas, our officers were away from theirs, on patrol, ensuring the safety of residents,” Suffolk County Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina told reporters on Friday.
“This story has a happy ending, far too often the ending can be very different,” Catalina added, encouraging Suffolk residents not to play on ponds this winter and instead opt for the safety of ice rinks.
Tayvion agreed with the commissioner.
“Don’t walk on the ice!” Tayvion yelled, looking right into the cameras as he exclaimed.
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