Toddler Survives Boat Crash By Floating In Air Pocket For Nearly An Hour

A desperate search for a toddler who vanished in a Florida river ended with a miracle when police found the child floating beneath an overturned boat with just a pocket of air keeping her alive, they said.

A family’s boat capsized in the Indian River around 10:30 p.m. Friday, spilling four people into the dark water, Cocoa Police said in a release.

Both parents, as well as an infant, were quickly found, but a 23-month-old girl was gone. The mother called 911 in a frenzy, searching for her child.

“I’m in the river. My boat crashed and I have a baby still in the water. Please God, send someone now,” Tammy Bossard begged a dispatcher in a recording obtained by local station 12 News.

Four responding officers jumped into the water and searched for the child, police said. Bossard later told reporters that they could hear her daughter crying, but they couldn’t tell where the sound was coming from.

Officers Matt Rush and Police Cpl. Alan Worthy finally found her, in remarkably good condition, after nearly an hour. Police said she had stayed afloat under the overturned boat in a small air pocket. They noted that if she hadn’t been wearing a life jacket she likely would have drowned.

Worthy said handing the child over to her mother was unforgettable.

“I’ll probably never forget that image of her holding her child out there,” he told reporters at a press conference. “It was a pretty cool experience.”

Bossard had her own words for her family’s heroes.

“Thank you for saving my baby,” she told WESH-TV. “And saving our world. I can’t imagine. I just can’t imagine.”

The Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, Cocoa Fire Rescue, U.S. Coast Guard and The Florida Wildlife Commission assisted with the rescue, Cocoa police said.

The wildlife commission is investigating the crash, police said.