Hero police officers save life of two-day old baby who stopped breathing

Two hero police officers who saved the life of a two-day old baby who had stopped breathing just before Christmas have been praised.

PC Tom Cannon and PC Dom Taylor, of Cleveland Police, were travelling back to their police station in Middlesbrough on 11 December when a 999 call came in saying a two-day old baby had stopped breathing near to their location.

The pair, who are both former soldiers, rushed to the scene and ran over to a woman who they saw holding a baby when they arrived, our sister title The Yorkshire Post reported. Father-of-three PC Cannon, immediately took hold of the baby and performed CPR until she began to breathe again.

The ambulance arrived a short time later and PC Cannon handed her over to the paramedics to be checked over. The pair then managed to calm down people at the scene by asking everyone to go back inside their homes and give the family some time and space.

PC Cannon said: “There was a lot going on, with both parents of the baby understandably extremely distressed. I was in the Army for 12 years prior to joining the police and am medically trained. I did two tours of Afghanistan, so difficult situations and trauma don’t usually faze me, so I just went into autopilot.

“Once everything had calmed down though, the enormity of what had happened dawned on me, and I was quite upset thinking about the baby, then thinking about my own kids.  When I got home I had to wake them up to give them a cuddle.”

PC Taylor, who helped to calm the situation down and obtain vital information from the baby’s parents, added: “Everything slowed down as we ran towards the family.  The baby was not moving or making a sound. The child’s mother was very distressed, in floods of tears and was struggling to communicate with officers as she only spoke Kurdish.”

Assistant Chief Constable Richard Baker said: “As police officers, we all serve to protect life.  It is always difficult and often traumatic for officers when faced with serious situations like this one, particularly when children or babies are involved.

“Both PC Cannon and PC Taylor acted calmly, professionally and with compassion when they arrived at the scene, quickly taking control of the situation and concentrating on helping the baby. They did an incredible job. I’m really pleased to hear that the baby girl is doing well and Cleveland Police send our best wishes to her and the family.”