Off-duty officer, neighbor help save child pulled from pool - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

A Metro police officer is one of two people being called a hero after saving a two-year-old boy who was found unresponsive in a backyard swimming pool.

Kitty Strong became emotional Thursday, talking about reviving her two-year-old neighbor, Carson Dorris. Strong heard Carson's father cries for help Wednesday evening in her Wayne Township neighborhood.

"I seen him carrying the baby in his arms and he was just limp and I come running over here," she said.

The boy's father, Randy Dorris, says he went to the garage as Carson watched cartoons in the living room. He says that's when Carson knocked down a child gate and apparently went to the pool in the backyard.

The father's screams for help also got the attention of another neighbor, IMPD homicide detective Douglas Cook, who worked with Strong to save the boy.

"Gave it about four or five breaths and the neighbor who was assisting me, she was pushing on his stomach," Cook said.

"Some small compressions to him and water came flying out of his mouth and he took a big ol' gulp of air and started crying," Strong said.

The boy's father decided not to do an interview, but sent Eyewitness News a message on Facebook, saying, "I left my son watching Mickey Mouse for just a couple (minutes) and he made his way to our pool."

In the same message, Dorris said he will make sure nothing like what happened to his son ever happens again. Kitty Strong has the same message for families with pools and children.

"If you have a back door with a screen, lock it," she said.

Strong says she learned Carson watched cartoons in his room at Riley Hospital for Children Thursday and that he and his father are ready to go home. They hope doctors will release Carson by Friday at the latest.

Officer Cook received his first CPR certification at the police academy in 1989. Strong says she has never had CPR training, but used what she's seen on TV to help revive the boy.