Sheriff's deputy named infant's 'uncle' after saving her life in car crash: 'He's our angel'
A sheriff's deputy in Florida is being hailed a hero by the family of a 6-month-old baby he helped save after a fatal car crash.
Sgt. David Musgrove, a 20-year veteran of the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office, was on patrol the night of Feb. 8 when he said he saw a motorcycle speed by his car. Shortly after, he heard a loud crash.
When he arrived at the scene, Musgrove said, he saw the motorcyclist, who was killed in the crash, and heard screaming coming from the driver's side of the car that was hit.
Inside the car was Kayleigh Foley, who was driving to dinner in Englewood, Florida, with her two daughters, 3-year-old Ariel and 6-month-old Lola, when they were struck by the motorcycle, which Musgrove said was traveling at least 90 mph at the time of the crash.
"I remember the crash happened and then I remember seeing him, the officer, right there," Foley, 22, told "Good Morning America," referring to Musgrove. "I honked my horn to let him know that I'm here and I'm alive ... And I just kept screaming, 'My babies, my babies, get my babies.'"
Foley said she saw Musgrove safely pull Ariel from her car seat on the passenger side of the car and hand her to a bystander who had stopped to help. Both Foley and Ariel suffered only minor injuries in the crash.
When Musgrove pulled Lola from her car seat on the driver's side of the car, Foley said she was not sure her younger daughter had survived the crash. She remembers immediately asking Musgrove if Lola was alive or dead.
"He was like, 'Let me do my job,'" Foley said. "And traffic was still going on, no one was stopping, so he put her to the side, in the median, and starts doing CPR."
The immediate CPR that Musgrove provided is what he and Foley and her family members credit with saving Lola's life.
"He's our angel, that's for sure," Lola's grandmother, Lisa Foley, told "GMA." "We wouldn't have our baby Lola if it had not been for Sgt. Musgrove and his quick action."
Musgrove said that when he took Lola out of the car, he did not feel a pulse. As he was giving her CPR, he said he heard her take a first "gasp" just as paramedics arrived.
"They did their thing and got her full vitals back," Musgrove said, adding of his role, "I'm very, very glad that a first responder was right there. It didn't have to be me, it could have been anybody, but a first responder being right there probably saved her life."
Lola was airlifted from the crash scene to a children's hospital in St. Petersburg, where she was diagnosed with multiple skull fractures and a broken arm, according to Kayleigh Foley.
After suffering several seizures and being placed on a ventilator and in a medically-induced coma for nearly one week, Lola has made what her mom, grandmother and Musgrove each describe as a "miraculous" recovery.
The infant is now breathing and eating on her own and undergoing speech, occupational and physical therapies with the hope of being discharged from the hospital soon, according to Lisa Foley.
"She's a little miracle," Lisa Foley said, adding that doctors will continue to monitor Lola to see if she has any lasting brain damage. "One big thing in her favor is her age because her fontanels were not closed completely yet, so as far as brain swelling, that helped accommodate that so she didn't have to have neurosurgery."
By the Foleys' side throughout Lola's recovery has been Musgrove, whom the family has nicknamed her "uncle."
In addition to visiting Lola in the hospital and speaking with Kayleigh and Lisa Foley daily, Musgrove has helped the family by raising awareness about a GoFundMe started to help Kayleigh Foley as she takes time away from school and work to care full-time for Lola. Kayleigh Foley is raising her two daughters on her own, with the help of family members, after her fiancé, Lola's father, died in July, just a few days before Lola's birth.
Since getting to know Musgrove, the Foleys said they have discovered that he and Kayleigh Foley share the same birthday, and his grandmother shares the same name as Lola.
"It's too much of a coincidence," Kayleigh Foley said. "He's never [on patrol] in Englewood and he's never on duty at night. He was just there in the right place at the right time."
