A Kansas City, Missouri police officer is being hailed a hero after bodycam footage showed him saving the life of a 1-month-old girl who had stopped breathing last week.
Richard DuChaine, pictured with baby Kamiyah below, has been identified as the responding officer who ran into a home on Thursday, Nov. 3, took the baby from her father’s arms, and immediately started performing life-saving measures before EMS got to the scene.
Officer Richard DuChaine saved a baby’s life!
Thursday, DuChaine and his partner, Officer Charles Owen, responded to a call for a 1-month-old girl who wasn’t breathing. Arriving before EMS, they sprinted into the house, where the father handed the baby over to DuChaine.
1/3 pic.twitter.com/xU5nezzqCc
— kcpolice (@kcpolice) November 7, 2022
The video is only a minute long, but it is intense. Another young child could be seen looking on in the background. You can watch the video in the player at the top of the story.
KCTV interviewed the baby’s mother Tajanea Allen. Allen said her daughter was battling RSV, which the CDC says “can be serious, especially for infants and older adults.”
“RSV [respiratory syncytial virus] is the most common cause of bronchiolitis (inflammation of the small airways in the lung) and pneumonia (infection of the lungs) in children younger than 1 year of age in the United States,” the CDC notes.
Allen reportedly said her infant daughter is “still on a breathing machine.”
She also called Officer DuChaine a “hero.”
“He saved my daughter’s life. I would do anything for that man. He saved my daughter and I’m very grateful for that,” the mother told KCTV.
DuChaine reportedly said the “most rewarding part” is seeing that Kamiyah is “okay,” that’s she “breathing,” and that he was able to see her again.
Kansas City Police said both DuChaine and his partner Officer Charles Owen played a role in the emergency response.
“DuChaine began infant chest compressions followed by back thrusts. Thankfully, the baby started breathing again. DuChaine turned the baby on her side, and Officer Owen checked for obstructions. Later, the officers visited her in the hospital,” cops said on Twitter. “Officer DuChaine and Officer Owen, thank you for your continued service to Kansas City.”
Later on Monday, authorities released the bodycam video of the incident as promised, calling the responding officers “outstanding.”
Kamiyah’s family reportedly said that the baby’s condition is improving and that they hope to have her home by the Thanksgiving holiday.
[Images via Kansas City Police]
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