ORANGE PARK – For Ryan Daw, the past two weeks have been filled with unanswered questions, doubt and a father’s concern for his son’s hidden trauma.

For Lts. Thomas Gill and Joe Hutchins, who are trained to be unaffected by the emotions of their duties, couldn’t help but think about the condition of a lifeless 15-month-old girl they pulled from the channel of Black Creek and the St. Johns River on Aug. 15, or how a father and son they asked to help with the recovery were handling the trauma.

All found much-needed resolve Sunday morning in a rare but necessary meeting at a Clay County Fire Rescue Station that gave all four a chance to put the frantic details of that evening in order.

Gill was returning from a rescue call when 911 sent out an alert of a capsized boat at the Black Creek Marina. Hutchins was off duty and returning from church. Both were on U.S. Highway 17 at the Black Creek bridge, so they pulled into the marina. They ran onto the dock, where Ryan Daw and his 8-year-old son, Weston, were pulling away to go shrimping. They didn’t see the capsized boat, but Hutchins desperately asked them to take him and Gill to the accident scene. The father never hesitated and agreed.

Three adults were on top of the upside-down boat, and a man was yelling that his baby was trapped under it. Gill instinctively jumped into the water. He remained under the black, murky water for more than three minutes.

On shore, other fire rescue personnel issued the alert “fireman down” after Gill didn’t re-emerge.” Suddenly, the baby appeared above the surface, and Hutchins immediately started CPR. Ryan Daw helped Gill climb into the boat.

“I was happy when I saw the baby,” Weston, a St. Johns Classical Academy student, said.

The father shook his head. It was estimated the baby was underwater for nearly 13 minutes.

“To be 100% honest, I was glad to see the girl. I was excited about how efficient they were. On the flip side, I was like, I really didn't want him (the son) to see that, you know,” Ryan said.

All were shocked to find out that despite having no pulse or blood pressure for nearly 20 minutes, counting the ride to HCA Florida Orange Park Hospital, CPR efforts eventually revived her. She was moved to Wolfson Children’s Hospital in Jacksonville, where she was placed in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. Hutchins has been in touch with a family member, and the girl is now breathing independently, and her parents can hold her.

“I can’t believe how everything happened at once,” Ryan said. “You guys (Gill and Hutchins) just happened to be driving by the marina. We just happened to be in our boat with the motor running when every second counted.”

Battalion Chief Billy Futch Jr. presented the father and son with a CCFR Challenge Coin to commemorate their heroics.

He told the Daws, “This how we say thank you. We give you these, which are called challenge coins. It has kind of a neat history. It goes all the way back into the military, and we're kind of like a military. We give these out to people who do special things at certain times in their careers, like promotions and stuff like that, to somebody who does exceptional duty. We feel like you both deserve that.”

Futch also told the family that the county would formally recognize them.

Daw’s wife, Lindsay, said the boat her husband and son were in once belonged to her father, a fireman.

“Thanks to the heroes of CCFR,” she said. “What a blessing to live in this community.”