HOLLYWOOD, FLA. (WSVN) - A family is hailing a Hollywood Police officer a hero after he saved a little boy from drowning.
Hollywood Police Officer John Guzman and the boy, Ky’eir Ray, were reunited at Hollywood Police headquarters, Thursday.
In a 911 call, someone said, “This little boy was in the pool, and he was at the bottom, and he’s not responding.”
It looked like a bad dream, and it sounded like one, too.
“Ky’eir! Come on, Ky’eir, keep breathing, come on,” a woman’s voice could be heard on an audio recording.
March 4, 9-year-old Ky’eir Ray and his best friend Jacob Jimenez had been swimming in the Hidden Court complex in Hollywood, and it was getting late.
“Grandma over there said it’s time to go,” recalled Jacob.
“And the goggles went into deep end,” said Ky’eir. “I went down. I couldn’t get it because it kept pulling me back up, so I kept swimming down, and I eventually grabbed it, but then I blacked out.”
“I looked,” said Jacob, “and I saw that he was under the water. I had to act quick, and I had to get him out.”
Jacob pulled his friend to the surface, and his grandmother called 911.
Listen to the voice you hear in the background: “There you go buddy, keep breathing, OK? There you go, there you go.”
That’s Guzman, who preformed CPR, and on Thursday, he met Ky’eir for the first time since the incident.
“You’re a real hero,” Ky’eir told him, “and thank you for saving my life.”
Guzman said he had been nearby when the call came in.
Jacob unlocked the pool gate for him, and he went to work.
“As soon as I saw him laying there, he had a very faint pulse, wasn’t breathing, and I started doing CPR, maybe 20 seconds worth. He spat out some water. At that point, you know, the body is already starting to work on its own,” said Guzman.
Whitna Martinez, Ky’ier’s mom, said Guzman also stayed in the ER, as the boy fought for his life.
“I was heartbroken,” she said. “I knew that I was broken inside … I am so honored and so grateful to him.”
Guzman said, “Any officer that would have been in the vicinity would have done the same. Luckily it was me, but it was scary because especially it being a child. Their body is going to give you less time and be reactive and do the steps that you have in order to make sure that he comes back.”
But come back he has. Ky’eir is showing no lingering effects, thanks to not only his best friend Jacob but his new friend Officer Guzman.
“You’re my guardian angel,” said Ky’ier. “You’re really my hero.”
“And I’m going to come by, and I’m going to play Xbox, and we’re gonna continue being friends,” said the officer with a laugh and a hug.
Before he worked in Hollywood, Guzman worked in New York, but before he moved down, he had to take a swimming test, and he said he didn’t do very well on that swimming test, so he said that’s a skill he has to work on. He thinks his new friend is going to have to do that, too.
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