A mother in Cleveland, Ohio, is being praised for essentially saving a policeman’s life during a community event on Saturday.
Sgt. Ray O’Connor was playing football with children during a back-to-school event when he was stung by two bees, WOIO reported Thursday.
Moments before he collapsed, O’Connor informed his partner, Officer Brooklyn Barnes, and explained he is deathly allergic to the insects.
However, he had forgotten to bring his Epi-Pen, which is a medication used during an emergency to treat serious allergic reactions.
While Barnes and another officer quickly got O’Connor to a police cruiser and performed first aid, another person there also took immediate action.
Tomika Johnson wasted no time in running over to her house to get her son’s Epi-Pen. After rushing back to the scene, Barnes injected her partner with the medication.
“I don’t even know who I gave the Epi-Pen to that was tending to the officer, Sergeant O’Connor. But I kept yelling, ‘Hit him in the hip! Hit him in the hip!'” Johnson told WKYC:
Barnes continued first aid while the pair were in the cruiser being whisked away to the hospital, and O’Connor was still unconscious when they arrived.
Doctors later said the Epi-Pen from Johnson and the quick actions of everyone present brought him back from the brink of death.
“Ms. Johnson’s quick thinking, fast response and concern for this officer’s well-being demonstrated a high regard for human life,” the Cleveland Police Fourth District said in a social media post Wednesday.
That day, O’Connor met the person who helped save him. The officers also realized Johnson’s son, Zaire, turned ten this week so they showered him with gifts and a $100 gift card.
“Ms. Johnson and Zaire will be recognized at the City of Cleveland’s Fourth District Awards Ceremony on October 6, 2022 and will receive the city’s ‘Citizen Award’. The above story proves that with the help of the community, lives can be saved. As the card said, Zaire and Ms. Johnson are our heroes,” the district’s post concluded.