DELTONA, Fla. – A sheriff’s deputy in Florida ran through the woods, ripped off his bulletproof vest and ran into a pond after hearing the screams of a missing five-year-old autistic boy.

Volusia County Sheriff’s Deputy Wes Brough picked up the boy and the child wrapped his arms tightly around Brough’s neck as they trudged back to dry land Tuesday evening in Deltona, near Daytona Beach on Florida’s Atlantic coast.

“I thanked God very much for first of all putting me in that position and secondly that the child was above water and breathing well when we got there,” Brough said. “God deserves the credit for putting me in the right place at the right time.”

Officers responded to a call about a missing child around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. The father told officers the child escaped through a second-floor door, which triggered an alarm, according to a report of the incident on the sheriff’s Facebook page.

The family and neighbors began searching. Someone called 911.

Brough and several other officers headed to a nearby pond after hearing that the child was attracted to the water, the report said.

At around 7:48 p.m., Brough heard the boy’s voice and saw him clinging to a tree trunk in the water.

Sheriff’s officials said the boy’s family took several steps to secure the home, including installing an alarm on the door, which alerted them that the child had left the house.

Brough credited the training they received, including autism awareness training, with being prepared for any situation. The rescue was captured on the officer’s body camera.

“I have three children of my own, one of whom is five years old,” Brough said. “When he held me like that, it felt like my own child was holding me.”