Police officers receive special recognition for saving child who was choking

By Web Staff

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    MIAMI (WFOR) — The city of Sweetwater and its police department recognized two officers for saving the life of a child on the spot.

“We, the family, are very thankful for these two officers,” said Olga Rodriguez said in Spanish.

Rodriguez is the grandmother of 1-year-old Jian-Lucas. She told the police officers her family is grateful for their life-saving work.

Rodriguez said her grandson grabbed a lychee fruit before his mom could stop him. He put it in his mouth and began to choke. Sgt. Domingo Benito and Officer Samuel Dorecely answered the call for help.

The incident was caught on bodycam, where Benito could be seen trying abdominal thrusts first. That didn’t seem to work.

“So that’s when I knelt down in front of the child’s mouth and dislodged the seed,” Dorcely explained.

Soon after he could hear the child throw up, which n this case was a good sign.

“It’s like having your own child you know, it’s a crazy intense moment,” Benito said.

The two officers have extensive training in first aid, but they also happen to be dads.

“Initially we do the sweep from left to right, but I do have children so this, unfortunately, is an incident I have dealt with my own children,” Dorcely explained.

Dorcely used a slight hooking motion, and it saved the boy’s life.

“If it wasn’t for these unselfish acts this child could have permanent physical damage,” Sweetwater Mayor Orlando Lopez said.

That’s why the officers received special recognition for saving a life on August 24.

“We’re just happy that we were able to help him,” Dorcely said.

The awards are nice, but for the officers, seeing Jian-Lucas OK is a bigger reward.

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