Last Friday morning, a New York police officer on her way to work saw a young boy jump 30 feet from an overpass and land on the concrete below. Her adrenaline soaring, she stopped her car, grabbed some first-aid supplies, and plunged from the overpass after the boy in order to save him.
Officer Jessie Ferreira Cavallo, 28, witnessed the boy, who was reportedly between 12 and 13 years old and a student at the Andrus School for vulnerable children, running along Saw Mill River Parkway, then jumping down into an empty city storage yard, according to News 12 Westchester.
“Everything happened so fast and I think my adrenaline was pumping so high. He just climbed up and jumped off,” Ferreira Cavallo said, as reported by USA Today. She added, “I wasn’t thinking too much. I just knew, when I looked down and saw him … he looked dead. I couldn’t see anything other than blood. I thought to myself, ‘He needs help. I need to help him.'”
A woman in a military uniform stopped to aid Ferreira Cavallo; Cavallo said, “Both me and her together, we were able to aid him and assist him.”
But the boy was unresponsive, so the women used a neck brace and a splint, then checked his airway. Police and an ambulance transported the boy to Westchester Medical Center.
By Saturday, Ferreira Cavallo found time to reflect on what had happened. She said, “Friday, after this whole thing happened, I went to work and worked to 11 p.m. I didn’t realize what was going on until yesterday. That’s when it hit me. I didn’t realize how high it was. It seemed doable. It didn’t seem that high. I thought I jumped over a brick wall, or a cement barrier. It was so fast. It was more like tunnel vision. I saw the boy and I needed to get to him. I didn’t see anything else.”
Ferreira Cavallo added, “I really want to know how he is doing. I don’t know anything about him. I don’t know his name or anything. … I just hope that he’s doing well. I just want to give him a hug.” She admitted she has received numerous lifesaving awards in her seven years as a police officer. Ferreira Cavallo has also performed undercover work with the FBI.
The boy suffered a broken arm, broken nose, and leg injuries, but is expected to survive, according to Kieran O’Leary, a Westchester County police spokesman.
H/T The Maven