Mansfield officer, boy he helped save from drowning meet each year to share ice cream

Officer, boy he helped save have 'unbreakable bond'

A Mansfield police officer and a boy he helped save have formed an "unbreakable bond," and they spend time with each other at the end of October each year as they remember the actions the officer took to save the boy's life.

MANSFIELD, Texas - A Mansfield police officer and a boy he helped save have formed an "unbreakable bond," and they spend time with each other at the end of October each year as they remember the actions the officer took to save the boy's life.

Officer Jeff Abrams said there was plenty of emotion and chaos when he answered a 911 call to the house of Vance Hudson.

"We did not know at that point that it was anything possibly medically related, so the fire department was not en route with me," Abrams recalled.

Five years ago, when Hudson was just 13 months old, he got into the pool at his home.

Officer Abrams was the first officer on the scene and began administering CPR.

He said Hudson’s family did a good job before he arrived.

"They had already removed him from the pool, began working on the resuscitation," Abrams said.

Abrams said Hudson, who is now 6 years old, was unconscious.

"He was unconscious, completely unresponsive," he said.

But Hudson was fighting to stay alive.

"It’s not like he was crying and emotional about it. There was no external response, but obviously, there was a pretty big fight going on inside," Abrams recalled.

The Mansfield Fire Department then arrived to take Hudson to a hospital. He began to breathe again after the ambulance showed up.

He flat-lined in the ambulance. When first responders got him to the ER, he was still unconscious but breathing. He was rushed to the ER, where he flat-lined again.

Once they got him breathing, he was sedated. Two days later, Hudson opened his eyes.

Abrams doesn’t consider himself a lifesaver, but more of a link in the chain.

"Even if we were way out in the middle of nowhere, and it was just me and him and nobody participated, I’d still hesitate to say that I’m a lifesaver. That’s a little bit bold," Abrams said.

Each year, on the day of that Hudson was saved - October 29 - the two meet for ice cream.

"I do know him very well. When he started saving me, we had ice cream together a lot of times, when I was a little kid," Hudson said.