An 8-year-old nonverbal girl with autism is home with her family this week after a Lafayette Parish sheriff’s deputy went into a pond in full uniform to pull her out. Cpl. Jared Havard was responding to a missing-child call in unincorporated Carencro, Louisiana, on the evening of September 6 when dispatchers told deputies the child had been found but was walking into the water.
By the time Havard arrived, neighbors were gathered on the bank and the child was going under. He waded in neck-deep, duty belt and all, reached her, and brought her back to shore where her family was waiting. Body-camera video of the rescue has since been shared widely on social media.
For Suncoast families, the story lands close to home. Our region is built around water, from retention ponds behind shopping centers to canals and the Gulf itself, and children with autism are drawn to water at alarming rates. A few basic precautions, swimming lessons, door alarms, and a heads-up to neighbors, can buy precious seconds. Ask yourself: if a child in your neighborhood got into trouble in the water, would you jump in?
