SEMINOLE COUNTY, FL (WESH/CNN) – A Florida 3-year-old met with the deputy who saved her life after the girl’s mother allegedly left her in a car for 12 hours following a late-night liquor store run.
Deputy Bill Dunn with the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office says he was the right guy in the right spot to save a 3-year-old girl last Sunday morning.
The deputy, who is a father himself, says the little girl’s condition was so bad when he found her that he immediately put her in his patrol car and drove her to the hospital.
"The initial doctor… said 10 to 15 minutes, she might have passed away,” Dunn said.
The child’s mother, 33-year-old Casey Keller, is now facing charges. She reported her car and daughter missing on the morning of June 17 after she allegedly took her three children to a liquor store the night before.
Dunn found the car with the 3-year-old still strapped inside. The car was not running, and its windows were rolled up.
The toddler was overheated and going in out of consciousness, according to deputies.
"Opened the door, and just a hit of steam smacks me in the face. She's not responsive. She's not talking. I feel for a pulse. I can't feel a pulse. I run her to the back of my patrol car and place her under the A/C. Once I do that, her eyes start to flutter,” Dunn said.
Dunn made the decision to immediately drive the girl to the hospital.
"I just felt the dire need for medical attention and that she needed that before I could wait for paramedics to get there,” he said.
Today Deputy Bill Dunn reunited with this precious three-year-old girl he found unresponsive in a car Sunday. He pulled her out, put her under air conditioning in his cruiser, and rushed her to the hospital. We’re so glad she’s made a full recovery. Well done, Dunn! #WeAreSCSO pic.twitter.com/1hxU6sdME3
— Seminole County S.O. (@SeminoleSO) June 20, 2018
Though the 3-year-old was initially listed in critical condition, Dunn received a call that evening saying the girl was talking and walking around.
"Amazing, absolutely amazing. I didn't know what to expect. Nobody really did,” he said.
The deputy got to meet the toddler Wednesday and received a hug from her.
"I brought her a little stuffed animal, just to break the ice. She said, ‘Is that yours?’ I said, ‘Well, it's yours now.’ Goosebumps, goosebumps – I still get them. It's amazing. She's a fighter. She really is. She was meant to be,” Dunn said.
Dunn says it was the best day in his nine years of law enforcement.
Keller is charged with child neglect with great bodily harm.
Copyright 2018 WESH, Seminole County Sheriff’s Office via CNN. All rights reserved.
