Dramatic body camera footage shows how quick-thinking New Jersey Transit Police officers saved the life of a 3-year-old boy who was nearly turning blue from suffocation earlier this month.
Traffic officers at the Trenton station heard cries for help coming from a private bus around 9:45 p.m. on April 16.
“Baby, baby, baby!” one person shouts by the bus door as another hands over the boy’s limp body to the police. A video released by the station shows the incident.
The boy’s airway was obstructed and officers quickly took action and performed CPR on the boy.
However, the object remained lodged in his throat and began to turn blue from lack of oxygen, New Jersey Transit Police said.
“Are you coming out?” someone asks.
“No, he’s turning blue,” the officer says in the heart-stopping footage.
The child’s parents, who did not speak English, could hear panicked cries in the background.
Realizing that the child, who wasn’t breathing, needed further treatment, K-9 Officer Timothy Geoghegan packed the child into his patrol car and made a beeline for the hospital. Michael Philandro continued CPR in the back of his car.
“Stay with me. Stay with me, okay, buddy?” Philando repeated to the 3-year-old.
Suddenly the child started breathing again.
“He’s moving the air. He’s making noise,” Philando tells Geoghegan, as the boy begins to cry, the footage shows.
“Let’s go! It’s okay! Great job!” he told the boy, clearly relieved.
“The New Jersey Transit Police officers did an outstanding job and saved young lives,” the department said in a statement, paying tribute to everyone involved, including Lt. Mark Frenzel, Officer Roberto Tavares and Officer Michael Virag. did.
