A break during a late-night training turned into a heroic and lifesaving moment for a Dallas Police officer.
Senior Corporal Sergio Perez with the Dallas Police Department said the training took place on the evening on Jan. 10. During the break, Perez said he wanted to buy his K9 partner chicken nuggets for performing well during the training.
Perez drove to the Mcdonald's near Grand Avenue and Interstate 30 in Dallas, where he said a woman began waving him down and pointing towards the parking lot.
“So, I assumed something bad was happening,” Perez said.
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He then spotted a woman who walked around the corner holding her 1-year-old son and screaming for help. The child was not breathing and appeared lifeless, Perez recalled.
Because Perez had his K9 partner in his squad car, he was unable to take the woman and child to the hospital. As they waited for an ambulance, he began to perform chest compressions on the child.
Perez said this was the first time in his career he has had to perform CPR.
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“Come on, buddy. He’s breathing,” is heard Perez saying in body camera video released this past week. “He’s breathing. He’s breathing. He’s breathing, ma’am. His eyes are blinking.”
After the child began to breathe, he began to experience a seizure. By then, paramedics had arrived and transported him to the hospital. Perez told NBC 5 Saturday, the child and his mother are both doing OK.
“It’s a cliché, you know? Just here at the right time. To protect and serve, if you will. I was just glad I was able to help her child,” he said.
Perez is an officer of 24 years.
