A six-month-old baby who was knocked unconscious after a fatal crash survived thanks to the quick instincts of a Florida police officer.
The incident occurred when a motorcyclist estimated to be traveling more than 100 mph collided with a vehicle at an intersection in Englewood on the night of Feb. 8, according to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office.
Charlotte County Deputy Sgt. Dave Musgrove saw the crash unfold in front of him “seconds” after the motorcycle rider sped past him as the two drove side by side on S. McCall Rd, near Spinnaker Blvd, according to a department news release.
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After turning on his emergency lights and notifying the dispatcher of the accident, Musgrove approached the scene and saw that the motorcycle had been “smashed” and heard cries from the vehicle he had collided with, now approximately 25-40 feet away.
‘As he approached he observed the motorcyclist, deceased, stuck in the rear window on the driver’s side of the vehicle. As Sergeant Musgrove rushed to check on the victims, he heard the driver yelling at him, begging him to help her children,” the statement explained.
Musgrove removed one of the children – a toddler named Ariel – from the booster seat after opening the rear passenger door of the vehicle.
“I was assuring my mom that the baby, Ariel, was fine, and she said no, my baby. I didn’t see the baby. All I saw was a man slumped over in the back passenger seat,” Musgrove told WBBH-TV.
That’s when Musgrove saw 22-year-old Kayleigh Foley’s six-month-old baby, Lola, trapped under the dead motorcyclist.
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Kayleigh Foley and Lisa Foley.
WPBF 25 News/Youtube
“At that time some bystanders approached and helped remove the motorcyclist from the child and cut the seat belt so Sergeant Musgrove could remove the car seat and check on the baby. The baby had no pulse and was not breathing,” the statement explained.
According to the release, Musgrove immediately began performing chest compressions on the baby until he heard her take a deep breath. Emergency services arrived at the scene and found a pulse on Lola “a short time” afterwards.
Lola’s grandmother Lisa Foley told WBBH-TV that Musgrove “will forever be our hero.”
“We will never repay him for what he did because what he did for us was life-changing,” she said. “The first thing he said to me was ‘I hate all these accolades. I was doing my job.’ I said, ‘Too bad, my friend, you get it. I want you to be recognized in any way possible because what he did changed our family’s life.'”
His heroic efforts were something Kayleigh would never forget after the difficult past few months.
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“I lost my fiance six months ago, so I thought that I couldn’t lose anyone else,” she told the newspaper.
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