ABC News(TAMPA, Fla.) — A 15-month-old baby who suddenly stopped breathing was saved thanks to a chance encounter with a sheriff’s deputy.
Steve Donaldson, a Hillsborough County sheriff’s deputy in Florida, was recently re-certified in infant CPR, but little did he know how soon his training would be put to the test.
Shakira Nelson brought her son into the Hillsborough County Tax Collector’s office, surveillance video shows, terrified and looking for help when he wasn’t breathing.
Donaldson, who was filling in for another officer and not scheduled for work that day, can be seen leaping into action, listening to the baby’s chest.
“I never realized how small babies were until they’re in your arms, but the overwhelming responsibility of this job is never understood until you have a baby… in your arms and he’s not breathing,” he said.
After Donaldson laid the toddler on the ground and administered compressions, the baby was able to breath again before the ambulance could arrive.
“I look at the video now and I say thank God for Deputy Donaldson because without him my baby wouldn’t be here,” Nelson said.
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