Henry holding his water damaged iPhone 4 in one hand (left) and his new, much larger, iPhone 7 in the other hand. Photos Courtesy AT&T.

By: Sharon Aron Baron

A local man who saved the life of a two year-old toddler by performing CPR after he was found floating in a lake last Saturday was rewarded for his heroism by a Coral Springs cellphone store.

On November 12, 2016, at 3:30 p.m. a two year-old boy wandered away from his Pinebrook Pointe apartment at 3495 Pinewalk Dr N in Margate after the family had accidentally left the front door unlocked. The child was only gone a short time when the caregiver realized he was missing and began frantically searching for the child. Neighbors, including Henry Tate III, 23, began to assist in the search for the child.  

According to Margate Police, the boy was soon found floating face-down in a lake behind the apartment when Tate jumped in, pulled the boy out and began performing CPR. Tate’s quick response and knowledge of CPR led to the child regaining consciousness on the scene. Margate Police and Fire Rescue soon arrived and took over care for the child where he was then transported to Northwest Medical Center for further evaluation and was expected to recover.

Henry working with AT&T Coral Springs sales consultant Jhan Quintero to get his new iPhone 7 set up.

The Coral Springs AT&T store at 2204 University Drive learned of the incident and how Tate had gone into the lake with his phone in his pocket. To honor Tate’s actions, they presented him with a new iPhone 7 and Otterbox protective case in recognition of his heroic actions over the weekend.

“When we learned about Tate’s story from someone who visited our AT&T Coral Springs store on Monday, we wanted to do something to help out Henry,” said AT&T Spokesperson Kelly Starling. “He is an incredible person and the fact he was where he was Saturday is no coincidence.”

Starling said that Tate just moved to South Florida from Tennessee just a few weeks ago, received his recertification in CPR just last week, and learned how to swim just three years ago. 

“He had never laid eyes on this toddler until Saturday when he saved his life. Talk about serendipity!” she said.

The City of Margate is also proud of his actions and will honor him in the near future.

Said Starling. “Our director of sales, Karl Blanco, was so impressed with Tate, he told him today he has a place at AT&T, if he’s interested.”

Sharon Aron Baron

Sharon Aron Baron is the Editor of Talk Media and writer for Coral Springs Talk. CST was created in 2012 to provide News, Views and Entertainment for the residents of Coral Springs, Parkland and the rest of South Florida.