Off-duty North Texas firefighter saves 3 children trapped under boat on Fourth of July

When a firefighter saves someone’s life, they call it “making a grab.” On the Fourth of July, Midlothian firefighter Jason Horne made three of them by rescuing three children trapped under a capsized boat at Alvarado Park Lake.

“This is my grab for my career,” Horne said Monday in an interview with The Dallas Morning News.

Horne was off-duty on the holiday, spending time with his 12-year-old daughter in their own boat on the lake when they saw another boat and a jet ski floating in the distance and waving them down, Horne said. Near the waving group was a capsized boat Horne said he didn’t see at first.

Horne stopped, told to his daughter to stay in their boat, then dove into the water. He swam to the capsized pontoon boat and realized what had happened.

“The people were all yelling, ‘Our babies are under there,'” he said. “So, I went around to the side of the boat, dove underneath the boat.”

Horne, who has been a paramedic and firefighter for over 20 years, said he reached up from under the boat and felt a life jacket that a little boy was wearing. He pulled the boy out.

“He was a little lethargic, but he was awake and he was breathing,” Horne said.

The second rescue was a little girl. She also was wearing a life jacket, but she wasn’t breathing, Horne said. He pulled her on top of the overturned pontoon boat and started doing chest compressions until he could get her to breathe on her own.

At that point someone told Horne another child was still under the boat, so he went back into the water, he said.

“I dove back under and I couldn’t find them,” he said.

Other boaters came and attempted to flip the capsized pontoon, and the third child emerged, he said.

“He had a bunch of ropes and stuff wrapped around him,” Horne said. “We were able to get him up on the front of that pontoon boat.
I did CPR on that little boy up there on the pontoon boat for a few minutes while we were headed back to the boat ramp.”

He was able to resuscitate the that boy, Horne said.

Horne’s daughter called 911 while her father dove in and out of the water. When Horne and the victims arrived on the shore, he said first responders were waiting for them. All the children in the water had been wearing life jackets, Horne said.

During the rescue, he said the victim’s family looked terrified. Horne said he remained focused.

“The only thing going through my mind: Don’t die, and find these kids as fast as you can and get them out of the water,” he said.

All three children were taken to a local hospital for evaluation and observation, Alvarado Fire Chief John Rodgers said in a news release. No life-threatening injuries have been reported.

The family later thanked him for the rescue, Horne said.

Horne, who has worked at the Midlothian Fire Department for 10 years, said he’s grateful he happened to be at the lake and prevent a family from losing their children. 

“I wasn’t trying to be a hero,” Horne said. “I wasn’t trying to do anything except help those people, and it worked out in our favor. The stars lined up. I was at the right place at the right time, and I was able to make a difference.”