Body camera footage revealed the dramatic moment a hero cop rescued an 8-year-old girl from a flash flood in Ohio this week. Officer T...
Body camera footage revealed the dramatic moment a hero cop rescued an 8-year-old girl from a flash flood in Ohio this week.
Officer Tom Cercek of the Walton Hills Police Department was praised for the rescue of the child, who was stranded on a shale ledge by the raging water near Bridal Veil Falls in Bedford about 17 miles south of Cleveland on Tuesday.
Cercek is seen in the footage dropping a thin rope to the unidentified girl, who tied it around her waist, so that he could pull her out of harm's way.
An adult woman and another child related to the girl had managed to escape to safety when the flash flood took the family by surprise after a sudden rain storm.
Body camera footage (pictured) revealed when officer Tom Cercek of the Walton Hills Police Department in Ohio used a rope to pull an 8-year-old girl stranded on a shale ledge by a raging flash flood near Bridal Veil Falls in Bedford about 17 miles south of Cleveland on Tuesday
Cercek is seen in the footage dropping the thin rope to the unidentified girl, who tied it to her waist, so that he could pull her out of harm's way
Pictured is the child the moment she was pulled up to a muddy embankment by Cercek. An adult woman and another child related to the girl had managed to escape to safety when the flash flood took the family by surprise after a sudden rain storm
The family was enjoying the creek that feeds the falls when they were suddenly overtaken by a wall of water caused by the torrential rain, WOIO reported.
Two witnesses managed to find Cercek, who is spotted in the footage racing behind them to the scene crying out, 'What is going on?'
He later found that the family members had sought refuge on the western side of the creek.
The officer instructed the family members to go up on their side from the water and then turned his attention to the young girl. 'Hey, hang on!' he yelled to the child.
The girl is heard in the footage saying, 'Oh my God, thank you, thank you. Thank you so much,' when Cercek finally pulled her up by the rope. She is pictured approaching the cop to embrace him after the rescue
The child is greeted by grateful family members after the rescue
The cop then scaled down a muddy embankment to get close to the child as he unravelled a thin rope.
He tossed the girl the rope and cried out 'around your body,' instructing her to tie the rope to herself so he could pull her up to where he stood on the embankment.
'Oh my God, thank you, thank you. Thank you so much,' the child told the officer after he as able to pull her up.
The child moaned in relief after she rested for several moments in the officer's care.
He later is seen in the footage approaching the child after she was reunited with her family.
Cercek never appears in the body camera footage. The officer is pictured from an image posted on the department's Facebook page
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