PALMDALE, Calif. — A sheriff’s deputy in California jumped into action to save the life of a baby during a demonstration.
The 11-month-old child had stopped breathing and had lost consciousness during the event in Palmdale, California, on May 31, KABC reported.
Deputy Cameron Kinsey saw the baby’s mother panicking and rushed to help.
Kinsey had been assigned to observe the protest from a distance, The Antelope Valley Press reported.
Kinsey did a “mouth sweep” to clear vomit from the child’s mouth. The child started to breathe and become alert. The child had swallowed a coin and by clearing the child’s mouth, the coin turned allowing the child to breathe, KABC reported.
But Kinsey isn’t taking all the credit for saving the baby’s life.
“Mom did the right thing. She was quick-thinking and started patting him on the back to dislodge whatever he had stuck in there. I saw that. I saw she was scared and kind of frantic, so I ran over and I grabbed the baby. At that point training just took over,” Kinsey told the Valley Press.
The baby was first taken to a nearby hospital then flown to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles where he had surgery to remove a quarter that was stuck in his throat, according to the newspaper.