Josibelk Aponte considers herself lucky. Few people get to meet their guardian angels.
Aponte has a special place in her heart for retired Hartford police detective Peter Getz, who stood with her, beaming as if she were his own child, in the XL Center Tuesday as she graduated magna cum laude from Eastern Connecticut State University.
“There are only a few moments that are so important in life,” Aponte said. “I wanted to share my graduation with everyone who’s important to me, who have been there for me, and who helped me through tough times.”
Getz certainly fits that description: He first crossed paths with Aponte on June 25, 1998, a day the 23-year-old describes as the “best and worst day” of her life.
In the summer of 1998, Officer Peter Getz had just arrived at a burning apartment building in Hartford, Connecticut, when a firefighter handed him a 5-year-old girl who was unresponsive and covered in ash.
With no time to wait for an ambulance, Getz placed Aponte in the back seat of his patrol car. He immediately began CPR while his partner drove the car to the hospital.
Aponte, who had been in cardiac arrest, was breathing on her own by the time they reached the emergency room.
“I’m told that if he would have just waited a few more seconds for the ambulance to come in, I could have died,” Aponte told NBC Connecticut.
Getz continued to visit Aponte while she recovered in the hospital. He brought her a teddy bear the day after her uncle, who also was inside the burning apartment, succumbed to his injuries.
“It’s one of those things that touches your heart and stays with you,” Getz said. “The firemen did their job, I did my job, the hospital staff did their job. As a result, we still have a beautiful young woman still on the face of the earth.”
Getz told CNN that he “followed her progress for years” while Aponte was in school. They eventually lost touch when she and her family moved away.
Opposing Views has more details of the story:
A photograph published in the Hartford Courant in 1998 shows Getz walking away from the burning apartment with the young girl in his arms. The retired officer, who is now an investigator for the Aetna insurance company, keeps the photo on his desk at work.
Although he has kept tabs on Aponte after her family moved to Vernon, Connecticut, he wasn’t sure if the young woman would want him to contact her.
About two years ago, Aponte decided she wanted to meet the man who had saved her life so many years ago and tracked Getz down on Facebook. The two have gotten together frequently since then, sometimes meeting for lunch to discuss their lives and Aponte’s future. The woman has earned an accounting degree and now works at a firm in South Windsor, Connecticut. She graduated from college with magna cum laude honors.
“To see the outcome, to see how successful she’s been, makes my heart beat faster,” Getz told the Hartford Courant.
“Not many people can or are willing to put themselves in danger to save others,” Aponte said. “It’s because of people like Peter and all of our police officers and firefighters that I’m alive.”
Watch the video report below for more details:
Sources: OpposingViews, Daily Mail, NBC
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