NEW YORK (WABC) — Two NYPD officers reunited Friday with a 10-month-old boy after helping save him when he was found unresponsive in his crib days earlier.
Officers Julio Arias and Karolin Abreu Garcia held Jheyler Montero once again after responding to the emergency on Sept. 26 near East 168th Street and Grand Concourse.
“I thank God that, you know, everything worked out for the best,” Arias said.
Body camera footage captured Arias giving life-saving back blows to the baby after his mother, 21-year-old Janibel Montano, said she found him unresponsive in his crib.
“Once I flipped him over, I realized he was pale, he couldn’t breathe, his eyes were closed. It was a horrible situation,” Montano said.
Montano said she attempted back blows herself before running outside, where neighbors flagged down Arias and Abreu Garcia.
“After I was giving the back slaps. I had felt something fall off, and that’s when he started crying and sort of breathing again,” Arias said.
The officers and Montano were unsure what the baby might have choked on. The officers continued assisting until paramedics arrived.
“We’re grateful that we were able to help the baby and I feel like I was breathing again when I saw the baby crying. Like I feel like I noticed I wasn’t breathing either when that happened,” Abreu Garcia said.
For Montano, the frightening moments ended in relief.
“They helped my baby. Thank God,” she said.
Montano also had a message for other parents.
“I have a message which is always to keep an eye on the area where your kids are, that there’s nothing small that they could ingest,” Montano said.
The reunion also marked the beginning of what Montano hopes will be a lasting relationship between her family and the officers.
“My son can get along with him. That’ll be great,” she said.
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