Moment hero cop saves choking toddler as stricken mother looks on
'It's explainable, just hearing the baby cry again.'
This is the heart-stopping moment a police officer saved a choking toddler while his terrified parents looked on.
New Mexico State Police Officer Mario Herrera saved 11-month-old Elikai Corona’s life after he began choking on a decorative plastic star from his parents’ wedding on February 2.
Dash-cam footage shows the harrowing rescue on US route 84 after Elikai began choking on the plastic piece at his home in Espanola, New Mexico.
Elikai’s father said his son somehow got his hands on the star that got lodged in his throat after he ate.
‘I walked away to put the spoon in the sink. By the time I came back, I noticed that he had something in his mouth,’ his father said.
‘He turns him over and he starts hitting him on the back,’ Elikai’s mother said.
But the Coronas attempts to get clear their son’s airway were unsuccessful, so they called 911 then got into their car to get him emergency treatment.
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Officer Herrera heard the distress call on his scanner and realized he could get to the family faster than an ambulance, so he began speeding towards the family.
Footage shows the Corona family’s car doors burst open as Herrera arrives. He then immediately goes to work trying to save the choking toddler.
He grabs Elikai and begin hitting him on the back on the side of the road as both parents anxiously watch.
The tense moment was broken after the boy started crying, meaning he was able to breath again.
‘It’s explainable, just hearing the baby cry again,’ Elikai’s father said.
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‘You’re just an angel on earth for us because we though, at some point, we lost him’ his mother added.
Elikai has since learned to walk after the nerve-wracking ordeal and his parents have Herrera to thank.
‘Wearing this this uniform you kind of have to be kind of tough,’ Herrera said.
‘But there’s times when you can’t. Kids are that time.’