Body Cam Shows Intense Moment Cop Finds 9-Month-Old Not Breathing, Rushes to Save Her Life
What kind of skills do police officers need to have? Well, the job certainly requires a measure of athleticism, intestinal fortitude, and the ability to act under pressure.
However, do you realize that officers have to interact with all sorts of situations that have nothing to do with lawbreaking? Situations such as broken-down cars and lost individuals pop up, and often the police are the first to arrive on the scene.
That means officers need an even larger set of abilities than one might initially think. Indeed, sometimes they have to become impromptu EMTs, as a number of cases involving choking infants show.
According to WNBC, NYPD officer Wendell Dias got called to a Brownsville apartment on December 23, 2018, after a report of an infant choking. He started having flashbacks to a near-death experience his own daughter had experienced years ago when her airway got blocked.
In one way, that terrible moment proved a blessing because Dias knew exactly what to do when he arrived on the scene. He swept the infant’s throat with a finger, put her over his shoulder, and began to pound her back.
“And, you know, she vomited all over my jacket, which is a great thing,” Dias said. “I think that’s a blessing.”
I’m sure Marietta officer Nick St. Onge felt much the same way when he responded to a call on May 15, 2018. ABC News reported that St. Onge pulled into a Georgia driveway after learning that a woman’s granddaughter had begun to choke.
Dash cam footage captured St. Onge’s efforts to save the infant’s life. The officer began to perform CPR on the child, who had started to turn blue.
Kianna Dorsey stood helpless nearby, saying, “She only had a bottle.” Miraculously, the baby eventually responded, letting out a thin wail.
In a third incident, the combined actions of a little girl and a Culver City, California, police officer ended up saving the life of a distressed 9-month-old on March 22. According to KCAL/KCBS/CNN, when Aria Lockridge saw her baby sister Harley begin choking, she immediately ran for help.
Fortunately, officer Brian Cappell was only a street away. When Cappell followed Aria back, he found a disturbing sight.
Harley had been noshing on a baby snack when she choked. She wasn’t breathing, and had blood coming from her mouth.
“It always makes you nervous, but it’s one of those things,” Cappell told CBSLA. “But your training just kicks in.”
His body cam captured him flipping the infant over and striking her back. Then the baby began to cry.
Harley’s mother, Janet Lockridge, said, “As soon as we heard that cry, it was like an angel. It was like God sent his angel through him. …
“I asked him, I said, ‘Can I just hug you?’ And I burst into tears, and his first reaction was, ‘Can I hold her?’'”
For his own part, Cappell felt just as shaken. “I’ve been here 19 years, and I’ve never experienced something like this before,” he said.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
