The actions of a girl that saved the life of a three year-old boy did not go unnoticed by the Pearl River County Sheriff’s Department.

Thursday morning several representatives of the department, including Sheriff David Allison, Chief Deputy Shane Tucker, Capt. Kelvin Stanford, Chief Investigator Donnie Saucier and Sgt. Christa Groom, accompanied by Emergency Management Director Danny Manley and District IV Supervisor Patrick Lee, made a visit to West Side Elementary to show their appreciation.

The group of county officials went to the school that Bailey Cacioppo attends to surprise her in class. After heading to the front of the class they asked the class if they knew why they were there. When none of the children offered a response Tucker spoke up and told them the story.

He told them that a couple of weeks ago a classmate did a brave thing and pulled a boy from the bottom of a pool after he had taken off his floatation devices and jumped into the pool. Since the young boy did not have his floaties on, he sank to the bottom. After another young boy at the pool that day notified the adults what had happened, Bailey was called to help pull the toddler from the pool, which she did while still fully clothed. Tucker said that adults on scene also helped saved the child’s life by performing CPR on him.

For her actions the Sheriff’s Department representatives asked her to come to the front of the class. She was presented with a Life Saving Award that stated the date and the name of the small boy, Brayden Murphy, whom she had saved.

Two local businesses also showed their appreciation BlueJack Ridge in Poplarville and the Poplarville Radio Shack. The owners of BlueJack Ridge donated four passes for Bailey and three of her friends to attend the corn maze and all the other attractions, while the owner of Radio Shack gave Cacioppo a digital camera, Tucker said.