HIALEAH, FLA. (WSVN) - Two Hialeah Police Officers were honored during a city council meeting after displaying heroic actions in saving a blind man’s life after he was found face down in a canal.
Officer Kevin Coloma and Sgt. Richard Aguero were honored Tuesday for their quick actions and a job well done.
It began when a resident nearby saw the man fall into the water on May 2.
She told 7News in Spanish she saw him fall in front of her house and into a canal near West Fifth Avenue and West 26th Street. She ran inside and called 911.
Police body camera video captured the officers arriving to the canal a short time later.
Officer Coloma immediately jumped into the canal and pulled the man to the banks.
“Pulling him out of the water,” Coloma is heard saying on body camera video.
Once the man, identified as 65-year-old Bruce Barrett, was pulled to safety, Sgt. Aguero started CPR.
“Flip him over. There you go, come on!” said Aguero on body camera video.
Within two minutes, the responding officers detected a pulse and Barrett began breathing.
“Put him in recovery position. Stand by. Good job guys,” said an officer.
Barrett was taken to the hospital in stable condition and is now recovering from the incident.
It remains unclear how the blind man ended up in the canal, but his sister told 7News she is thankful for the work of the Hialeah Police Officers.
“We greatly appreciate them because, if it wasn’t for them, he wouldn’t be there today,” Barrett’s sister said over the phone.
She said she looks forward to meeting the officers and thanking them in person.
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