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A Florida mom has thanked the quick-thinking deputy who climbed the outside of a three-story apartment building to rescue her two-year-old daughter during a fire over the weekend.
Barbara Elemus and her daughter Sophia met with Orange County Sheriff’s Deputy William Puzynski on Tuesday and thanked him for his heroic actions, FOX35 Orlando reported.
FLORIDA DEPUTIES RESCUE BABY FROM ‘RAGING’ APARTMENT FIRE, VIDEO SHOWS
“I want to that him so much because, without him, me and my daughter might not be here,” Elemus told the station. “And my sister might not be there. He showed my kids something positive that he was willing to risk his own life and fall down three flights of stairs just to save us.”
Orange County Sheriff’s Deputy William Puzynski and 2-year-old Sophia reunited on Tuesday after the deputy helped rescue the child from an apartment fire in Orlando over the weekend.
(Orange County Sheriff’s Office)
The sheriff’s office posted photos of the reunion between Elemus, her children and Orange County deputies on its Facebook page.
“It was a joyful meeting, with tears & hugs & laughs – and lots of toys and supplies for mom & kids!” the sheriff’s office wrote.
Orange County Sheriff’s deputies responded early Saturday morning to the Isles at East Millenia apartments in Orlando after part of the complex caught fire, the sheriff’s office previously said.
Orange County Sheriff’s Deputy William Puzynski hands down a 2-year-old child to deputies on the ground during an apartment fire rescue on Saturday morning.
(Orange County Sheriff’s Office)
Puzynski’s bodycam shows him scale to the second-floor balcony and the mother hand him her daughter from the floor above. Puzynski then lowers the baby to other deputies on the ground.
Three residents were injured during the fire, according to fire officials. The sheriff’s office said there were no casualties and no deputies were injured.
Fire officials said the blaze directly impacted 12 units at the Isles at East Millenia apartments in Orlando and effected 24 units in total.
(FOX35 Orlando WOFL)
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Elemus told the station that she and her four kids are staying a hotel in Orlando after losing everything in the fire.
To help the family during their displacement, the station reported that the sheriff’s office gave her kids toys, gift cards and some clothes.
