Three ‘Good Samaritans’ recognized for saving toddler

Three courageous individuals were recognized Tuesday for saving the life of a toddler who fell into a sewage tank Saturday near a farmer’s market on West Papago Road.

Henry Ricketts, 27, of Maricopa, Audencio Rios, 29, of Stanfield and Chelsea Cunningham, 28, of Alberta, Canada, were presented with “Life-Saving Awards” from the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office for saving the baby girl, who is just a few months shy of turning 2.

The ceremony took place near the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office in Florence.

According to authorities, Ricketts and Rios heard the girl’s mother, Emilie Howard, screaming for help after the toddler stepped on the tank’s cracked plastic cover shielding and fell inside. The toddler, Kylie Howard, was completely submerged by sewage waste and could not be seen from the top of the tank.

One of the men jumped into the tank and began to search for her in the thick, murky sewage but had to come up for air. The second man was lowered by his legs until he felt the girl’s hair. Both Ricketts and Rios worked together to pull the girl up and handed her to Cunningham, who was waiting near the top of the tank.

Cunningham cleared the toddler’s mouth and immediately performed CPR on the child. The child began breathing and was taken to Cardon Children’s Hospital in Mesa by ambulance.

“When emergency teams arrived at the scene on Jan. 11, it was believed that Cunningham was a nurse,” Sheriff Paul Babeu said.  “She had cleared the child’s mouth and gotten her breathing, which saved this child’s life.”

Cunningham smiled during the awards ceremony and said, “I’m not a nurse but I am a rancher and I know CPR. Thanks to Ricketts and Rios, they got her out of the tank. We all just worked together, it was amazing.”

The sewage tank was more than 6-feet deep and contained more than 4-feet of raw sewage, according to a sheriff’s office press release. The child was estimated to be under the sewage for about four minutes.

“Thanks to the quick actions of these three heroes, the girl is expected to make a full recovery,” Babeu said. “It is my honor to present Mr. Ricketts, Mr. Rios and Ms. Cunningham with ‘Life-Saving Awards’ on behalf of the family, our office and the citizens of Pinal County.”

Babeu awarded each person a certificate. Ricketts also received a brand new cell phone from the sheriff to replace the phone he lost in the sewage during the rescue.

Kylie Howard and her family were in attendance.

Emilie Howard gave an emotional thank you to each award recipient.

“I am so thankful that you were there,” she said. “I don’t know what I would have done without her. Thank you so much for saving my girl and for being so selfless.”