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Gwinnett officer and nurse save toddlers life
A Gwinnett County police officer is being hailed as a hero after he and an off-duty nurse saved the life of an 18-month-old boy who had stopped breathing. The frightening incident happened last month at Hoke O’Kelly Mill Road and Loganville Highway in Loganville. The body camera footage captures the tense moments as the boy lay unconscious and not moving.
GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. - A Gwinnett County police officer is being hailed as a hero after he and an off-duty nurse saved the life of an 18-month-old boy who had stopped breathing.
What we know:
The frightening incident happened last month at Hoke O’Kelly Mill Road and Loganville Highway in Loganville, according to Gwinnett County police.
Body camera video shows Officer Ralph Mondesir rushing to help after frantic parents ran to him, saying their toddler was choking and unresponsive. The officer, who had been nearby filling out a report from another case, immediately began CPR while an off-duty nurse provided mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
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Gwinnett police officer helps child not breathing
A Gwinnett County police officer is being called a hero for helping a child who had stopped breathing. The parents believe the child choked on something.
"The first and foremost [thought] was just make sure that little one was able to make it," Mondesir said. "I was nervous, at first, he wouldn’t have made it."
The body camera footage captures the tense moments as the boy lay unconscious and not moving. At one point, a woman is heard saying, "His pulse is getting stronger," before the child began breathing again. Paramedics rushed the toddler to the hospital for further treatment.
Mondesir said the emotional weight of the rescue hit him afterward. "I got a little bit choked up towards the end there," he said. "I basically did what I was hired to do and it’s one of those things where I’m going to continue doing it no matter what."
Dig deeper:
This is not the first time Officer Mondesir has been credited with saving a life. Two years ago, the department honored him with a lifesaving award after he applied a tourniquet to the leg of a hit-and-run victim.