Published 10:43 a.m. ET July 1, 2020 | Updated 11:40 a.m. ET July 1, 2020
CAMDEN – Officer Joseph Figueroa recently experienced “the three longest minutes” of his police career, tense moments spent trying to coax life back into a 1-year-old drowning victim.
Figueroa was one of four Camden County police officers who raced to a frantic scene outside a Fairview row house, where a distraught mother had pulled an unresponsive child from her family's hot tub.
The officers worked together to save the boy, with Figueroa performing CPR to revive his tiny body.
Figueroa simultaneously downplays the accomplishment and credits a higher power for the June 24 rescue.
“Any one of us would have reacted the same way. Our training was the key,” he said.
But, Figueroa added, “I believe God put us there to prevent a tragedy from happening.”
