'By the Grace of God': Police Officer Saves Newborn Who Was Born in Car and Wasn't Breathing
The quick thinking of a New Mexico State police officer is credited with saving the life of a newborn baby with the heroic rescue happening merely a few yards from a hospital.
Officer Ismael Perez saw a car run a red light, and then it turned into the hospital parking lot.
"I could hear over the radio they were mentioning something on the police radio about them needing an escort," Perez told KOAT-TV.
Perez approached the car to find a man and his wife, who had given birth in the front seat, but the baby wasn't breathing.
"As soon as I opened the door, I see a newborn baby on the seat lying there motionless. It kind of threw me off for a slight second," he told KOAT.
He jumped into action, as his body camera captured video of him patting the baby's back to clear his throat.
Perez can be heard saying, "Come on mijo breathe, breathe, breathe mijo breathe."
"I have three kids of my own, so I've seen the doctors do that with my daughters because they came out of the womb the same way and no crying or anything. So I did the same thing," Perez told KOAT.
Seconds later, the baby started crying and the officer handed the newborn over to the hospital's medical staff.
Perez says he was thankful to be a part of the beautiful moment.
Officials confirmed the newborn is in "excellent health" and he and his mother were released from the hospital days later, Yahoo News reported.
"It was like a sense of relief, you know because I knew someone that knew what they were doing was helping," Miguel Covarrubias, the baby's father said. "To me, in my eyes, he's a hero. He helped me in what I would say was one of the scariest moments in my life."
The family told KOAT what happened that night was a moment of divine intervention.
"It lined up perfectly to where everything turned out OK. So it was and is by the grace of God," Covarrubias said.
Perez told KOAT he did what any other officer would have done and he's grateful for the way it turned out.
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