BRYAN, TX — A baby’s life was saved at the Ramblewood Mobile Home Park in Bryan all thanks to a fast-acting Deputy with the Brazos County Sheriff’s Office.
Back in September, Deputy Adam Dodson with the Brazos County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to a CPR in progress call involving an infant.
“I took the child from the father and could see he was turning purple. That led me to believe that he was choking. Clearly he was choking, so I felt under his arm for a pulse, found a pulse so I just proceeded to flip him on his stomach and onto my arm and began doing strikes to his back, like an infant Heimlich maneuver,” said Deputy Dodson.
After performing life-saving measures, clearing the child’s airway, and performing infant CPR, baby Diego became responsive and started to breathe on his own.
“I felt extremely relieved by hearing the first little cough,” said the deputy.
Diego’s mother, Herlinta Zuniga, says while he was sleeping, Diego threw up his milk and started choking. She says her son is doing much better.
“He’s been healthy, his stomach is getting back to normal because he was having some reflux, and he's been checked out by doctors and it hasn't affected his brain. The incident didn't cause major damage,” said Zuniga.
Baby Diego’s family is thankful for the quick response from Deputy Dodson.
"We're so grateful. First responders got here thanks to my neighbor who was able to call 9-1-1 cause we don't know English, and when the officer got here my husband had already revived my baby, but he helped save his life because he opened his mouth and was able to get more milk out that he was choking on,” said Zuniga.
Because of Deputy Dodson’s calm and decisive action, Diego is still here in his mother’s arms. On Thursday, Brazos County Sheriff’s Office awarded Dodson the Life Saving Medal.
“I always want to be prepared. As far as the incident at hand, I believe adrenaline probably kicked in and kept me going, and I knew I needed to be the one person there that while everybody was in mass confusion and hysteria, that I needed to be the one that could make decisions and take action,” said Deputy Dodson.
According to the Brazos County Sheriff’s Office, three life-saving medals have been awarded within the department this year.