Hero Cops: Choking Infant Saved By Ohio Officers [Video]

SHAKER HEIGHTS, OH — Officers Ryan Sidders and Alex Oklander did not expect to save a 2-month-old baby. They were merely stopping on Chagrin Boulevard for a car with its hazard lights on. Then they saw a woman get out of the car and run to the back. The woman looked distressed.

Tamica Pruitte was indeed distressed. Her daughter, who was in the backseat, was choking. The 2-month-old looked like she had stopped breathing.

The officers rushed to the backseat, pulled the baby out of the car, and started administering what looks like a form of CPR. They patted the baby's back and tried to dislodge whatever was blocking her airway. The baby appeared to have milk coming out of her nose and mouth, the officers told Fox 8.

Eventually, the 2-month-old started breathing. One of the officers hands the baby back to her mother and says, "She's moving air. We've got her breathing."

The split-second timing of the officers was key to saving the 2-month-old's life. “We could have easily backed up another officer at a different part of the city. We might have been there two, three minutes later and when someone isn’t breathing, two or three minutes is life or death,” Sidders told Fox 8.

Video of the incident was later posted to the Shaker Heights Police Department Facebook page on March 20.

For their efforts, Shaker Heights Police Chief Jeffrey DeMuth recognized the efforts of Sidders and Oklander during an event at the department this week.

Photo from Video Screenshot