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TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A Tampa police officer’s body camera captured the terrifying moment a man carrying a child came up to him last month, screaming, “He’s choking.”
The officer and several of his colleagues jumped into action to help the young boy as the man continued panicking, shouting that the boy was eating a tomato and now “he can’t breathe.”
Video showed an officer placing the boy over his knee and patting him on the back. Another officer asked the boy if he could open his mouth, but he was unresponsive.
The man who brought the child to them continued pacing worriedly in the background, crying, “Oh my God, no.”
After multiple attempts to get the food clear from the boy’s throat, he finally began making noises and was able to spit the food out.
“There it is,” an officer said, pointing to the piece of food on the ground.
The officer then lifted the boy up into his arms and asked him, “You alright?”
“What was it?” the boy cried.
“It was a little tomato,” the officer said in reply as he tried to comfort the child.
In a Facebook post sharing the video, the Tampa Police Department warned that choking can often be silent and, if someone can’t speak or cough, that should be a sign to call 911 immediately.
“A terrifying moment turned into a life saved,” the police department wrote. “Thanks to the quick, compassionate response of our officers, the toddler is safe today.”