LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Louisville Metro Council honored a local firefighter Monday for saving a child's life.

Sgt. Aaron Dossy with Fern Creek Fire Department saved a 12-year-old boy's life while on vacation.

Dossy, his wife and two daughters were at an indoor water park in Cincinnati when he spotted the boy underwater. 

After pulling the child from the water, Dossy said the boy did not have a pulse. He performed CPR until the child started breathing again.

"It all happened really fast and you just kind of rely on your instincts and your training and experiences," Dossey said. "It was all over about as fast as it started it seemed like. We're just thankful for a good outcome and that boy started talking to us again." 

Dossey said by the time the ambulance arrived, the child was alert and talking. The boy’s mother, who was elsewhere in the waterpark, was overwhelmed with gratitude when she arrived.

The firefighter was given a special award by members of Metro Council Monday.

"In the world that we live in is a career means you go to work 8 to 4 and then you’re off. You have your own time, you do your own thing, you disconnect. That’s not how it is in public safety," Fern Creek Fire Department chief Nathan Mulvey said. "First Responders face on a regular basis not only what they do on duty, but them carrying that home with them— the faces that they see, the stuff that they navigate."

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