Hero NYPD Cops Use CPR To Save Boy, 3, In Bedford-Stuyvesant
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A 3-year-old Brooklyn boy has police officers to thank for saving his life after they performed CPR on him.
Young Elie Lewis was recovering at home Tuesday after he stopped breathing and was revived by a pair of New York's Finest.
"It brought tears to my eyes," Officer Bermaly Nunez told CBS 2's John Slattery.
The incident happened Monday morning in Bedford-Stuyvesant, where 57-year-old Josephe Elise was driving his niece's son to day care. But just a block from their home the child, while in his car seat, experienced respiratory distress.
"Foam came from his mouth," Elise said.
Hero NYPD Officers Use CPR To Save Boy, 3, In Bedford-Stuyvesant
Knowing that the child suffered from asthma and has had two previous seizures, he stopped the car.
"I go outside and scream for help, scream loud for help. I'm trying to take him from car seat," Elise said.
Neighbors flagged down a police cruiser. The officers -- Officer Nunez and Officer Charlene Vazquez -- got the child out of the car seat and onto the rear deck of the car.
"He was unconscious. His were eyes closed," said Officer Vazquez. "At that moment I thought he's not breathing, he might be dead. I just started putting compression on his chest."
The other officer called for EMS, but was told it would take five minutes. So one did compression while the other did breathing after they put the boy on the hood of the car.
"We have to do what we have to do. I can't let this boy go, not on my watch," said Nunez. "So her last 15 compressions and my last breath, the baby came back and started breathing again."
The pair said they frequently get CPR training, but Nunez said this was nothing like the academy.
"Because you're doing it on a mannequin, completely different from doing it on a real person," Nunez told 1010 WINS' Sonia Rincon.
What does the family think of the police?
"I'm happy. I'm happy. I'm happy," Elise said.
Both the grand-uncle and the child's mother credit the two officers with bringing young Elie back to life.
Share your thoughts in the comments section below...
