LAUDERHILL, FLA. (WSVN) - Newly released body camera footage captured the moments officers sprang into action after a 9-year-old girl nearly drowned in Lauderhill. The girl has since been released from hospital.
The incident happened on May 12 when Lauderhill Police received a call about a drowning at a home in the 4700 block of Northwest 18th Street .
Once officers arrived at the home, they found a young girl, who family identified as Arihanna, who was pulled by the swimming pool by family members. Before they arrived at the home, Arihanna uncle performed CPR in an attempt to revive her while neighbors called police.
“Oh my God, I hear the kids crying, I just stepped out and I’m not sure what transpired,” a neighbor tells a dispatcher.
Police believe she may have hit her head.
According to the body camera footage, officers conducted a sternal rub to see if the patient can respond to pain. Video shows the girl crying as officers tell her she will be OK.
Lauderhill Fire Rescue then transported the girl to Broward Health Medical Center in critical condition.
Several weeks later, the girl, police said, made a full recovery and she was released from the hospital.
Her mother, speaking to 7News over the phone, said her daughter is a strong individual.
“Arihanna is a strong individual and knows word of God and that shows I knew she was going to survive,” said the mom.
The mother said that doctors believe the immediate CPR saved her daughter’s life.
“I think it’s important for everyone to know CPR. I’ve also had some people reach out to me and say that they were taking refresher courses because they saw my daughter’s condition and knew that’s why she’s here today,” she said.
She said that the body cam video of the officers helping her daughter shows a miracle in action. She believes that the combined actions of the CPR, first responders, faith and her daughter’s own spirit saved her.
“She was fighting from the time she was there, and even in the critical condition that she was in, she fought through that. She was ready to get out of the bed as soon as came off those ventilators,” said the mother.
Her mother provided photos of her daughter of the day she left the hospital. She was in the hospital for two weeks.
On Wednesday, officers with the Lauderhill Police Department and first responders with Lauderhill Fire Rescue will meet with the girl and her family at Fire Station 57.
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