It has been nearly a year since deputies with the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office responded to a home in the Cole Springs community about a possible drowning and found an unresponsive child lying near a swimming pool.  

Sgt. Shannon Ferguson was one of the first on the scene that day, and he said he remembers it well.  

“When the call came in, it was by the grace of God that we were in the area,” Ferguson said. “We had just finished a call in Eva, and I was about a mile from the location.” 

Ferguson took over chest compressions from family members in an effort to save the boy’s life while Sgt. Jon Mason continued giving mouth to mouth. 

Moments passed before the young child took a big gasp of air, and with that, the responders felt relief, Ferguson said.  

Minutes later, Cpl. Turk Jones and Deputy Frank Anderson arrived on the scene and took over CPR while Lt. Chris Dutton and Deputy Jonathan Wynne secured a landing zone for a MedFlight helicopter. 

By the time the helicopter landed for transport, the child was breathing on his own, had a pulse and was crying. 

“He wasn’t out of the woods yet, but we knew that was a good sign,” Ferguson said. “We loaded him into the helicopter and knew he was in good hands then.  

“Everybody who responded, from the deputies to the volunteer firefighters, EMS, Lifeguard and the helicopter crew, worked together to fight for this little boy,” he added.  “It was amazing. Everyone knew their roles because their training kicked in.”  

Nine months later, the 3-year-old boy is happy and healthy, and he recently was able to meet the first responders who saved his life that summer day. 

Ferguson said seeing the child again, and knowing he is healthy, is a feeling he cannot explain.  

“He is a loving child,” Ferguson said. “He gave us hugs and fist bumps. He’s living a normal, active life of a 3-year-old, and it meant so much to be able to see that – to see him laughing and smiling and see his family and how thankful they were to still have him.”