A police officer recalled the moment she saved an eight-year-old girl who fell into a frozen pond in Cambridge, Vermont.
Bodycam footage from 17 December 2023 showed Vermont State Trooper Michelle Archer wading into the freezing water after she received a call of a possibly deceased child in the pond.
“I don’t know if it was training, or instinct, or probably a little bit of both. Something kicked in where I didn’t think, I just took action,” Trooper Archer said in a video released on 18 January.
She was able to pull the child to shore, when Trooper Keith Cote arrived and rushed her to an ambulance on the scene and was immediately taken to hospital.
She made a full recovery and returned home, according to officials.
Bodycam footage from 17 December 2023 showed Vermont State Trooper Michelle Archer wading into the freezing water after she received a call of a possibly deceased child in the pond.
“I don’t know if it was training, or instinct, or probably a little bit of both. Something kicked in where I didn’t think, I just took action,” Trooper Archer said in a video released on 18 January.
She was able to pull the child to shore, when Trooper Keith Cote arrived and rushed her to an ambulance on the scene and was immediately taken to hospital.
She made a full recovery and returned home, according to officials.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 (soft music)
00:02 My name is Trooper Michelle Archer.
00:06 I'm a trooper with the Vermont State Police
00:08 out of the Williston Barracks.
00:10 (soft music)
00:12 On December 17th, I was on patrol in the town of Cambridge.
00:19 When I saw a call come up on our screen,
00:21 it said possible deceased six-year-old floating in a pond.
00:26 And I checked the map and saw that I was
00:29 right down the road, so I headed there
00:31 as quickly as I could.
00:32 So when I arrived on scene, the homeowner came out
00:39 and she pointed to the pond and said
00:41 there was still a child in there.
00:43 I don't know if it was training or instinct
00:46 or probably a little bit of both.
00:47 Something kicked in where I didn't think,
00:50 I just took action.
00:51 I knew Trooper Cody was minutes behind me,
00:54 so I ran over to the pond.
00:55 (leaves rustling)
00:59 I grabbed the rope and unraveled it a little bit
01:01 and started entering into the pond.
01:03 The time I got to her, it was over my head
01:05 and I was swimming.
01:06 I was able to grab onto the child and swim back to shore.
01:10 (water splashing)
01:12 I knew she was still alive.
01:13 She was making these noises that told me she was still alive.
01:17 Once she was in the ambulance, Trooper Cody reminded me,
01:20 you know, I had to get out of my wet and cold clothes.
01:24 So I was just thankful that everything lined up that day
01:29 that led us to the outcome where it seemed
01:32 like everything was gonna be okay.