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Seminole County deputy revives young girl after drowning in family pool

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Published  June 24, 2025 3:49pm EDT
FOX 35 Care Force
FOX 35 Orlando
FOX 35 Care Force: Seminole County deputy revives child

FOX 35 Care Force: Seminole County deputy revives child

This week, the FOX 35 Care Force is honoring the heroic work of a Seminole County deputy who sprang into action to revive a toddler who had fallen into a family pool and drowned. Deputy Gibran Bakhshi said he was in the right place at the right time to receive the urgent 911 call, and the young girl is expected to make a full recovery.

The Brief

    • The FOX 35 Care Force is honoring the heroic work of Seminole County deputy Gibran Bakhshi.
    • Bakhshi helped to revive a young girl who had fallen into a family pool and drowned.
    • The child survived and made a full recovery.

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. - The FOX 35 Care Force is honoring the heroic work of a Seminole County deputy who sprang into action to revive a toddler who had fallen into a family pool and drowned.

What happened?

What we know:

Deputy Gibran Bakhshi said he was in the right place at the right time to receive an urgent 911 call about a child drowning.

On that day, he said he wasn’t on his usual route and was able to get to her home within seconds. When he arrived at the home, he found a three-year-old girl who had fallen into her family’s pool and was found unresponsive by her mother.

First responders from the Seminole County Fire Department quickly got to the scene and took the little girl in critical condition to the hospital.

Officials said the young girl survived and made a full recovery.

After she was released, the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office invited the girl's family to its headquarters for ice cream and cake to celebrate her survival.

Seminole County deputy Gibran Bakhshi was recently honored by the FOX 35 Care Force. 

‘God had me at the right place at the right time’

What they're saying:

"As soon as I got there, I saw the parents with the child, who was unfortunately unresponsive and clinically dead," Bakhshi said. "So, as soon as I got there, I saw the mother doing chest compressions – doing her best to revive the child. I took over, and very soon after starting chest compressions I realized her airway was blocked. So, once that was cleared, I was able to get her into the rescue position, and she began to take her first breath."

"Her tenacity and will to survive – that’s inspirational to all of us," Bakhshi said. "This goes up with probably one of the worst kind of calls I would want to respond to. Just taking your attention away from your child even for a minute something like this could happen. They can wander off into the pool accidentally, and that’s a long time to be going without any air. It can happen very quickly. Thankfully, God had me at the right place at the right time."

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The Source: This story was written based on information gathered by FOX 35's Amanda McKenzie in an interview with Seminole County deputy Gibran Bakhshi.

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