Family Grateful After NYPD Officer Revives Baby In The Bronx
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The parents of a 2-month-old girl from the Bronx had a lot to be thankful for on Wednesday, after an NYPD officer rushed into their home and revived the girl after she stopped breathing.
As CBS 2's John Slattery reported, Victor Colon was thankful that his goddaughter, Adelyn Pena-Fernandez, was alive Wednesday.
"One minute more and she could have died," Colon said in Spanish.
Colon said late Tuesday morning, Adelyn stopped breathing in the family's apartment on the Grand Concourse in Fordham Manor section of the Bronx. Colon says he put the child on the table, while the baby's mother called 911 for help and to get instructions over the phone.
"She had phlegm in her mouth and I gave her pats on the back," Colon said in Spanish. "At first I had her on the table, then I brought her up. I pushed her three times softly and then she started breathing."
Meanwhile outside the building, NYPD Officer Johnny Castillo holding out his radar gun to catch speeding drivers as part of Mayor Bill de Blasio's Vision Zero initiative. He heard a call crackle over his police radio about an unconscious child.
"I was right across the street from it," Castillo said.
So Castillo ran in and took the elevator to the sixth floor, where he said he found the child on the dining room table, unresponsive.
"I picked the baby up, started chest compressions -- full compressions," Castillo said. "The baby woke up; she came to."
The four-year veteran officer spent 10 years as a decorated Army Ranger. He said his resuscitation efforts worked.
"It feels good -- feels good -- being a part of bringing back a baby that could have possibly died," Castillo said.
Before becoming a police officer, Castillo served as an Army sniper when his armored vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in Baghdad. He also served two Purple Heart medals and a presidential citation from President George W. Bush, police said.
The baby, who was taken to Montefiore Medical Center, was listed in stable condition.
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