While the world can often feel like a discouraging place, there are plenty of people – both those who have sworn to protect and serve, as well as regular citizens – who are willing to go above and beyond for others.
Here are some examples of law enforcement officers and good Samaritans taking heroic action over the past year.
Arkansas police officer saves boy who fell through ice on pond
Last January, a police officer in Jonesboro, Arkansas, sprang into lifesaving action after a boy fell through the ice on a frozen pond.
Body camera footage shared by the department showed Officer Troy Ellison running through the snow and jumping a fence before getting on his hands and knees to help the boy.
HERO POLICE OFFICER SAVES TERRIFIED BOY FROM FROZEN POND
Jonesboro police officer rescues child who had fallen through ice into freezing pond in Arkansas. (Jonesboro Police Department)
“I gotcha, I gotcha,” he is heard saying in the footage.
Soon after, another officer and a fire official arrived and helped Ellison pull the boy out of the pond with a rope.
The boy was taken to a hospital to be checked for any cold weather injuries.
“’Great Job’ goes to one of our officers who responded to a call about a child falling through ice on a local pond,” a Facebook post from the Jonesboro Police Department, who shared the video, read.
“Officer Troy Ellison sprung into action when he arrived on the scene. He quickly located the child, crawled onto the ice, and pulled the child to safety with the help of Lt. Shon Morris and members of the Jonesboro Fire Department.”
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Arizona officers save baby being held hostage
In May, a team of officers in Surprise, Arizona, entered a barricaded home where a 7-month-old baby was allegedly being held hostage by his father and had been shot.
“I thought that one of us or multiple of us would get hurt going inside the house,” Surprise Officer Carlton Williams told “FOX News @ Night” in October. “The fact that the gentleman had already shot at officers multiple times, there was no doubt in my mind that we had to make entry into the home.”
The department had received a 911 call about a woman and her baby being held hostage by the baby’s father. The mother escaped, but the child was still inside when the team of officers forced their way in after hearing gunfire.
They found the baby at the back of the house and one officer took him to safety while the others provided cover – all without firing any shots.
The baby was taken to a hospital to recover and was reunited with his mother. The father later died after barricading himself in the home and lighting it on fire.
“This is as close as it gets to a perfect operation,” law enforcement expert Aaron Cohen said. “They’ve got to get to the end of that structure and get to that kid, and they have no idea what’s laying behind that door.”
ARIZONA BODYCAM HEROES SAVE WOUNDED BABY BEING HELD HOSTAGE INSIDE HOUSE
California police officer saves choking boy
In June, a police officer in El Monte, California, saved the life of an 8-year-old boy who had fallen unconscious after choking on a piece of candy.
“I just saw him purple, he was already unconscious, so… neighbors and I were trying to do compressions on his chest, breathe through his mouth, but nothing seemed to be working,” the boy’s mother, Vanessa Becerra-Aguayo, told “Fox News @ Night.” “He was unable to talk to me, so he was unconscious the whole time until the police arrived.”
Officer Raul Vega said he used his LifeVac “anti-choking, rescue device” to clear the boy’s airway.
“It’s basically like a plunger, like a foam plunger, and you place the device over the person’s mouth, and you press to get, you know, suction in and while you’re holding it down, you pull it up, and that allows the object to become dislodged and the airway to open up,” he said.
After two tries, the candy came out of the boy’s throat, and he later woke up in the ambulance.
HEROIC POLICE OFFICER SAVES CHILD CHOKING ON CANDY: HE WAS ‘PURPLE’
Indiana police officer saves boy with autism from drowning in pool
In September, an Indiana police officer was hailed as a hero after he saved a 3-year-old boy with autism from drowning in a neighbor’s pool.
After responding to a report that the boy was missing when his parents realized the door had been left unlocked and he had gotten out of the home, Fort Wayne Police Officer Evan Myers began to search the area with other officers.
After seeing the boy swimming in the neighbor’s above-ground pool, he ran over and got the boy out.
“He’s breathing and is conscious,” Myers is heard saying in body camera footage. “Are you OK, buddy?”
“I want to personally thank him deeply for just being able to find my son,” the boy’s mom, Savannah Ybarra, told local station WPTA.
WATCH: HERO INDIANA OFFICER SAVES MISSING AUTISTIC BOY, 3, FROM DROWNING IN POOL
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Georgia passerby saves homeowner from house fire
In October, a passerby saved a Winterville, Georgia, homeowner who woke up from a nap to find his house engulfed in smoke and flames.
David McConnell told FOX5 Atlanta he could hardly see and he tried to leave his house through his front door but his storm door – a secondary door installed over the door – was locked.
Dylan Betts, who was driving home from work when he saw the smoke, raced to McConnell’s house and “ripped it off and then kicked it in,” he said.
Betts said he stepped inside the home through a “thick wall of black smoke” and called out.
GEORGIA PASSERBY SAVES MAN FROM BURNING HOME BY KICKING DOWN STORM DOOR
David McConnell’s house went up in flames on Oct. 29. (Athens-Clarke County Fire Department)
“Mr. David, luckily, heard my voice, and he came right to me,” Betts told FOX5.
When the outlet asked Betts why he risked his life to save a stranger, Betts responded, “Why not? That’s America.”
McConnell said his family calls Betts “our hero,” and even gave Betts tickets to a Georgia/Tennessee football game as a small thank you for saving his life.
Oklahoma police officer and good Samaritan save sleeping man from rolling off bridge
In November, a quick-thinking police officer and a good Samaritan teamed up to save a man who said he fell asleep on a guardrail of a bridge about 40 feet over the Oklahoma River.
An Oklahoma City police officer identified as Officer Reyes went to check on the sleeping man lying on the bridge’s guardrail when the man turned and slipped.
Reyes grabbed the man by his hoodie as he dangled over the waters below.
SLEEPING MAN SAVED FROM ROLLING OFF BRIDGE BY POLICE OFFICER, GOOD SAMARITAN IN DRAMATIC VIDEO
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A good Samaritan jogger then ran over to help Reyes grab the man’s arms and pull him to safety.
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The man wasn’t hurt in the incident.
Oklahoma City Police Msgt. Gary Knight told News9, “It’s a real hero type thing when you see an officer spring into action – save someone’s life with the help of a citizen.”
Fox News’ Michael Dorgan, Maria Lencki, Sarah Rumpf-Whitten and Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.
