A Kansas mother was reunited on Wednesday with the police officer who saved her three-year-old-son from drowning last week after he wandered more than a block away from their home and fell into a nearby pond.
"No words or actions can show how thankful we are that Officer Bulmer was where he was when he was," Jaclyn Hamby said, speaking of Topeka Police Department Officer Aaron Bulmer, who jumped into a pond in Topeka, Kansas, and saved her son from drowning.
Kansas officer's bodycam captures rescue of boy, 4, who fell in pondHamby and her son, Elijah, met up with the hero officer for the first time since the incident in an exclusive interview with ABC News.
"Something didn't seem right to me," Bulmer said. "I felt like God was tapping me on the shoulder to tell me, 'Hey, you need to go check this out.'"
He said he was already heading over to speak with Elijah when he saw him fall in.
"I saw his head in the water and I immediately reacted," Bulmer said. "I didn't hesitate, I didn't take off my duty belt, radio or anything. I just jumped in."
Body camera footage released by the police department captured the dramatic moment when the officer plunged into the pond to save the child, who, according to his mother, had strayed from their home while his father stepped away to use the restroom.
Hamby said she was at work when her husband called her and said their son had unlocked the back door and wandered off.
"My heart slowly dropped down to my stomach," she said, recalling the moment when she got the news.
Thankfully, the boy was recovered safely and is doing just fine.
Now, Hamby said she spends a lot of time thinking about what she and her husband could have done differently.
"We feel terrible," Hamby said. "We feel like we could have paid better attention and probably taken some other precautionary measures that weren't already taken."
Bulmer, after hearing about the parents' guilt, said the unfortunate situation could have happened to any parent.
"What happened to Mr. Hamby that day is not his fault," Bulmer said. "Yeah, he did lose sight of him for a little bit, but that could have been any parent in America that has a young one."
The Topeka Police Department released a statement on Monday commending the officer for "a job well done."
"Officer Bulmer was in the right place at the right time to save a young life," the department said.