‘Heroes’ rush to nonverbal 6-year-old found sinking in Outer Banks pond, NC cops say

A nonverbal 6-year-old boy was found sinking in an Outer Banks pond as police rushed into the water, officials said.

Now, the North Carolina officers and a bystander who teamed up to save the child are being hailed as “heroes” on social media.

“Tragedy was narrowly avoided,” the Kill Devil Hills Police Department wrote in an Aug. 25 news release.

That morning, police in the coastal town were called to a report that a boy “managed to slip away unnoticed from his family while they were packing to leave.” Officers blanketed a “densely packed neighborhood” to search for the missing child, who they say has autism and is nonverbal.

“Approximately 15 minutes after the 911 call, Kill Devil Hills patrol officers Joey Delmonte and Austin Gray spotted the boy floating in a pond,” police wrote.

Officers in an email to McClatchy News said the 6-year-old was found near a “steep drop-off.” He started sinking below the surface just as police jumped into the water to pull him out.

“The child was struggling to breathe as he had ingested a considerable amount of water,” officials wrote.

Police — who rescued the child along with a bystander not identified in their news release — gave the boy medical attention before other first responders arrived. The boy was taken to the Outer Banks Hospital.

While Delmonte has been an officer for more than a decade, five-year veteran Gray rejoined the force a week before the rescue. After police posted about the officers’ efforts on Facebook, several people praised the rescue group for their actions.

“Thank you to the bystander and the officers,” one person wrote.

Another Facebook user commented: “Thank heavens. So glad they found him in time.”

Kill Devil Hills, roughly 200 miles east of Raleigh, is a popular vacation spot on the Outer Banks barrier islands.

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