Seffner boy rescued from burning home reunited with deputies who saved him

TAMPA, Fla. - It's been nearly three weeks since a fire ripped through a Seffner house, trapping a young boy inside. But it was two Hillsborough County deputies who broke through his bedroom window, guided him with their voices and flashlights in the middle of the night, and pulled him away from the flames.

Those public servants were formally recognized and honored by the sheriff's office.

Nine-year-old Owen Ares was reunited with the two deputies who saved his life during Wednesday's ceremony and was able to thank them. Sheriff Chad Chronister presented the agency's life-saving award to Deputy Alexander Maldonado and Deputy Kevin Reich.

"My baby is sitting here with me. He is alive," said the nine-year-old's mother Karen McGinnis. "It could have been a completely different situation."

The house fire occurred back on May 19. The following day, the sheriff's office released the deputies' body camera footage, showing their quick actions. 

PREVIOUS: Video: Hillsborough County deputies rescue 9-year-old boy from Seffner home fire

His mother said when she realized she couldn’t break the window she immediately began praying. When deputies first arrived at the scene, they smashed a window, revealing the thick smoke inside. 

"Once we got the windows broken, and we pulled a window out the front of the house, we just started calling out, 'hey, buddy, can you hear us?'" Maldonado said during a news conference last month.

After about three and a half minutes of frantically calling for Owen, the child finally emerged. The deputies pulled the boy out of the house and carried him to safety. He was covered in soot, and couldn't stand, but he was breathing.

"Once we could see his arm and Deputy Reich was able to reach in and pull him to the window, and we could get him up over the window," Maldonado said. "[I felt] just relief and happiness just to get him out of the house, get him as far away from the house, as far away from the smoke as we possibly could."

Young Owen was taken to Tampa General Hospital with severe burns and smoke inhalation. Since then, Owen is off a ventilator, eating and taking steps toward recovery.

MORE: 9-year-old boy rescued from Seffner house fire takes major steps in recovery

"You know, his bravery and his fighting spirit when he was on the ventilator, because I knew he could hear, and I was talking to him all the time, like, you're a strong boy. You're going to get through this. We love you so much. And he's just been fighting this whole time," his mom, Karen McGinnis, told FOX 13.