Nine-Year-Old Son of Capitola Police Officer Saves Choking Grandfather

For being what his mom calls "not the most focused kid in the world," Soquel's Kyle Jack, 9, performed flawlessly under pressure on Tuesday.

Jack, the son of Capitola Police Officer Sarah Ryan, was under the care of his 86-year-old grandfather, Brin, when the man started to choke on a hot dog.

"My son grabbed the phone and called 9-1-1, and they walked him through what to do," Ryan told Capitola-Soquel Patch. "Grandpa kept trying to drink to wash it down, but everything that he picked up, Kyle grabbed out of his hands and told him to wait and stay calm until the ambulance came."

Brin was transported to the hospital because paramedics could not dislodge the four-inch piece of meat from his throat. Hospital staff later successfully removed it.

At the time of the incident, Ryan was working a separate emergency call.

"I didn't know why dispatch kept trying to call me," Ryan said. "They just told me to call, and said 'Code 2,' which is our code for absolutely calling as soon as you can."

Ryan was later reunited with her son and his grandfather.

"Kyle was shaken up but proud of himself because had he not been there, I'm not sure what would have happened," she said. "Grandpa doesn't move around really, so I don't know how it would have ended."

Being in emergency services herself, Ryan was beaming at her son's act of heroism. 

"I am so proud of Kyle," she said. "It just really brought home for him what I do for a living. He's grown up surrounded by law enforcement, and this showed him that when you call 9-1-1, look at what you get. He absolutely got the importance of it and it was really impressive to me. He's a typical 9-year old boy chasing bees and jumping off rocks, so it was very impressive."