LOGAN, Utah — A Logan Police Department animal control officer was honored with a medal during the Logan Municipal Council meeting on June 7 after authorities say he saved a 10-year-old child from drowning in Skylar’s Pond earlier this month.

On June 2, according to Mayor Holly Daines, Cpl. Bryan Lay was on duty in the area of Willow Park when he heard a call for help and saw a pair of children struggling in the water. While the mother was retrieving one of the children, according to Daines, Lay saw the older child sink below the water’s surface.

“He immediately dropped his duty belt and went in after her,” Daines said.

Logan Police Chief Gary Jensen told the City Council that Lay dove down in the pond, managed to get an arm around the child, and swam to the safety of shore where the child was found to be breathing.

“We are so pleased that that was the outcome,” Daines said. “That he was there at the right time and was willing to go in and do that.”

During the meeting, Jensen presented Lay with a life saving medal and ribbon for his efforts with the rescued child, Ubah Ahmad, and her mother, Nasteho Mohamed, present. Jensen said the department was grateful for Lay’s “action and reaction, and willingness to take that moment to put yourself at risk.”

“We feel that, as the mayor suggested, that had he not been there, that this would have been a much different story,” Jensen said.

Ubah and her family posed for a photo with Lay in the council chambers.

Jensen told the council that this wasn’t the first time Lay had been honored for saving a life. Lay was recognized at a previous City Council meeting some time ago for saving the life of a friend during a fishing trip.

“Although not duty related, we did recognize him here in City Council,” Jensen said.

Logan Police Capt. Curtis Hooley told The Herald Journal that Lay joined the police department in January of 1997 — marking a quarter century with the city this year.

“We were just so thankful,” Hooley said. “We’re just really, really happy he was there. … Tragedy averted.”