Brian, a state trooper, remembers getting to the top of the mountain and being out of breath. He was surrounded by green and brown trees when all of a sudden he saw a pink dot far away. When a two-year-old girl went missing in South Bristol, New York, police officers knew they had to find her quickly.
It’s bad enough when kids go missing during the day, but at night, when the temperature drops, it’s even more dangerous.
Brian Hotchkiss, a New York State Trooper, was in charge of the search party, and he knew how serious the situation was.
“It could get very bad with these missing kids. “It depends on the season, so even though it was a nice day, the temperature was going down,” Brian said.
He and the search team went around the neighborhood and knocked on doors, but no one seemed to know where the little girl was.
As soon as it got dark, Brian decided to start climbing the mountain that was half an hour from where the girl lived.
It took Brian half an hour to get to the top of the mountain, where he was “winded.” At first, all he could see were the green and brown trees. But then he saw a small pink dot far away.
The pink dot stayed put on a rock next to the stream. As Brian started to run over, his heart dropped. He was hoping the child was still alive.
“I followed the stream and found the child. She was lying on her stomach on a rock. I ran over as fast as I could, and when I saw her arm move, I knew she was still alive, and my heart dropped. “I was so happy that I ran up to her and gave her a big hug, but she wouldn’t let go,” he said.
The little girl was clearly happy to have been found. She held on to Brian like her life depended on it, which, in a way, it did. If Brian hadn’t decided to take his search party up the mountain, the story might have turned out very differently.
When Brian got to the girl, she was shivering, so another soldier wrapped her in his uniform to warm her up.
Then, an ambulance took her away to make sure she was okay. She was able to go back home again after the hospital gave her the all-clear.
Brian was left to think about how exciting that day had been.
“That image of her turning over, looking at me, and throwing her hands up in the air is still stuck in my head. He said, “I’ll never forget that.”
People all over the US heard about how the little girl was saved, and they praised Brian’s quick thinking in the comments section of YouTube.
One person said, “Thank you for your service, sir, and be careful out there. We can’t afford for you to leave.”
Another person said, “It’s heartwarming. Good job, Trooper!”
Brian is a great member of the New York State Police. See for yourself in the video below!