OCSO deputy meets toddler he saved from apartment fire | Orlando Area News | Orlando

Shortly after video of a heroic rescue went viral, an Orange County Sheriff’s office deputy met up with a family he helped save from an apartment fire.

In the video shared over the weekend, Deputy William Puzynski can be seen climbing a Millenia apartment building by scaling the balconies to reach a family on the third floor. The family was able to pass down their youngest child, Sophie.

“I didn’t want to give him my baby. I knew we were gonna die if I didn’t,” said mother Barbara Elenus in a video shared by the department. “He saved me and my kids.”

Barbara stopped by the sheriff’s office to personally thank the deputies who helped her family get out of the burning building safely. Puznyski shared that he was surprised by the gesture.

“I did not expect Barbara and her children to walk through the door,” he said. “Some days you come to work and then you go home and you don’t know if you made a difference. In a situation like this, you definitely feel it.”

In addition to the video, OCSO shared a link to a GoFundMe for the Elenus family, who lost their home in the fire. Take a look at the reunion in the video below.

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