A Michigan cop pulled over a reckless driver and ended up saving a choking baby
A Michigan police officer who thought he was pulling over a reckless driver last week ended up saving an 18-month-old baby who was choking. The ordeal was captured on the cop’s dashcam.
Officer Brenden Fraser is a police officer in Warren, Michigan, about 20 miles north of Detroit.
He was pulling someone over for reckless driving during rush hour traffic on Aug. 29 when he approached the Camaro and found a terrified mother in the passenger seat with a child in her lap.
The speed limit was 45 mph but the driver was going about 75 or 80 mph, Fraser said in a video about the incident.
As Fraser caught up to the Chevy Camaro for a traffic stop, the driver, a male, waved his arms and flagged him down, Warren Police Commissioner William Dwyer wrote in a news release about the incident.
The driver told Fraser his 18-month-old nephew wasn't breathing. The baby was turning blue and his eyes were rolled to the back of his head.
Kentucky: Body cam video shows police finding woman chained to bedroom floor in Louisville, Kentucky
'He's breathing'
In the video, Fraser gets out of his police vehicle and rushes to the driver's side of the Camaro. Once he realizes what’s going on, he reaches in and grabs the child, who appears limp.
"I put him on my forearm and administered a few back blows to him,” Fraser said in a video as he discussed the incident. “Saliva and I don't know what it was kind of regurgitated out onto my arm.”
He said calming the child’s mother and uncle down was just as important to him as saving the baby.
“He’s breathing,” he says in an attempt to console the mother in the clip. “They’re not blue anymore.”
Other officers arrived on scene and took the child to a hospital about a mile away from the scene, the release said. He was out of the hospital by Thursday and back home with family.
“Officer Fraser’s actions on this traffic stop are nothing short of heroic," Commissioner Dwyer wrote in the news release. "This incident shows that police work and traffic stops are not always about writing tickets or makingarrests. In this case, what started off as a traffic stop for speeding resulted in Officer Fraser saving a child’slife."
Fraser has been nominated for a life-saving award from the department, Dwyer said, calling the award "well-deserved."
Social media users in a police scanner Facebook group also praised the officer for his quick thinking.
"You are amazing," wrote one Facebook user. "You not only saved the baby, you remained so calm. Great job!"
Fraser said if anyone out there experiences something like this, call 911 and let the pros handle it to prevent more accidents or injuries.
And to his fellow officers, he had a word of advice.
"Just rely on your training and what you went over, over and over again.”
Law enforcement: Entire police department in small Minnesota city resigns, citing low pay