Toddler Meets the Stranger Who Saved Her Life After She Drowned on Her Birthday

When Jeff Haire was at Frank Brown Park in Panama City Beach, FL, this off-duty police officer was enjoying a day at the pool with his family. However, as Jeff was chasing after his 2-year-old daughter, he saw a man screaming for help as he came out of the pool carrying a "limp and lifeless" little girl.

"I snatched her out of his arms and laid her on the concrete," Jeff told POPSUGAR. "She had no pulse and foam around her mouth and nose."

The man explained that he found the little girl at the bottom of the pool and had no idea how many minutes she was underwater. When Jeff checked Davieonna's small wrist for a pulse, he couldn't feel one. Unbeknownst to him at the time, the child was at the pool celebrating her fourth birthday.

Jeff started chest compressions as the lifeguard called 911. "I checked for a pulse after two rounds of compressions and nothing . . . placed her on her side, patted her back, rolled her back over, and repeated the compressions," he said. "Then finally I felt a very faint pulse. After a fourth and last round of chest compressions and breaths, her heart finally started beating and went from zero to 100 instantly."

Davieonna immediately began to cry and a relieved Jeff carried her towards the pool's gates where the EMTs would be arriving. "Only God has the power to bring back life . . . He put me in the right place at the right time," Jeff said. "It only takes a second for a child or adult to be in trouble in the water. In this case the family had just arrived at the pool and the mother was setting up Davieonna's birthday party at the tables."

Davieonna was transported to a local hospital where Jeff visited the recovering child and her grateful family. "I love that little girl already!" he added.

For Davieonna's mom, there's no way to thank this new friend for his quick thinking. "Jeff Haire saved my child's life and I will be forever thankful," she told POPSUGAR. "I would love for the world to know how awesome he is."