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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“I thank God that, you know, everything worked out for the best,” Arias said.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“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.<\/p>\n
Montano said she attempted back blows herself before running outside, where neighbors flagged down Arias and Abreu Garcia.<\/p>\n
“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.<\/p>\n
The officers and Montano were unsure what the baby might have choked on. The officers continued assisting until paramedics arrived.<\/p>\n
“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.<\/p>\n
For Montano, the frightening moments ended in relief.<\/p>\n
“They helped my baby. Thank God,” she said.<\/p>\n
Montano also had a message for other parents.<\/p>\n
“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.<\/p>\n
The reunion also marked the beginning of what Montano hopes will be a lasting relationship between her family and the officers.<\/p>\n
“My son can get along with him. That’ll be great,” she said.<\/p>\n
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