New York State Trooper Gary Mahoney was honored this week for his heroic actions this fall.
Trooper Mahoney jumped into a pool in the Town of Collins and saved a little boy who had fallen in and needed help. He was awarded the Outstanding Trooper Award for his actions.
After three-year-old Dougie Hudson went missing in October, his mom and grandmother immediately started searching their neighborhood, and they called State Police for help.
Trooper Mahoney responded, found the little boy trapped inside a neighbor's pool clinging to the solar cover to stay above water. He jumped in and pulled him to safety. When he got the award he recalled what Dougie said to him when he got to the boy.
"As I retrieved the child, he grabbed onto me, he looked at me, and said thank you," Trooper Mahoney said. "I just jumped right in. Didn't even think about it. I was thinking 'I have kids of my own' and I know how that feels."
