SAVANNAH, Ga. — Savannah police are crediting an officer with saving the life of a choking newborn baby by racing to her apartment and then using chest compressions to restart the infant’s breathing. Dramatic video from an officer’s body-worn camera shows the infant’s desperate mother, Tina Adkins, holding her unresponsive 29-day-old baby Friday.
Savannah-Chatham police Officer William Eng raced up three flights of stairs to perform CPR.
Eng finally saw Bella move, “and I heard a little cry,” he told The Savannah Morning News.
“I stopped and I turned her to my face and saw her eyes open and she started moving,” Eng said. “I was so relieved.”
When Bella began choking, she turned beet red and also blue, her mother recalled in an interview with the Savannah newspaper.
“I just thank God for him,” Adkins said of the officer. “Without him, she may not have been here today, so I thank God for him.”
Eng did not hesitate to come to the family’s aid, said his supervisor, Savannah-Chatham police Sgt. Phillip Collard. CBS affiliate WTOC-TV writes that Eng did compressions for about a minute before Bella opened her eyes.
“Because of his compassionate and quick response, he saved the life of this little girl,” Collard said.
WTOC-TV reports that Monday, Eng and Bella were reunited at police headquarters during a recognition of his actions.
Officer Eng and Bella were reunited Mon., Dec. 4, 2017 at police headquarters.
Savannah-Chatham Metro Police Department
The Savannah-Chatham Metro Police Department posted the bodycam video on its Facebook page Monday. It’s been viewed nearly 24,000 times.
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