A California sheriff’s deputy sprung into action to save the life of an 11-month-old toddler who lost consciousness during a protest.
The toddler had stopped breathing and lost consciousness during the demonstration in Palmdale on May 31, KABC reported. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Cameron Kinsey saw the infant’s mother panicking and rushed to the scene to help.
The Antelope Valley Press reported that Kinsey had been assigned to keep tabs on the protest from a distance before he rushed to save the child’s life.
Kinsey first cleared the vomit from the child’s mouth, allowing the child to breathe and stay alert. The child had accidentally swallowed a coin, and by clearing the child’s mouth of vomit, the toddler was allowed to breathe.
But Kinsey is not taking full credit for saving the toddler’s life.
“Mom did the right thing. She was quick-thinking and started patting him on the back to dislodge whatever he had stuck in there. I saw that. I saw she was scared and kind of frantic, so I ran over and I grabbed the baby. At that point training just took over,” Kinsey told the Valley Press.
The toddler was first taken to a local hospital and then flown to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, where he had surgery to remove the quarter lodged in his throat.