Officer saves Whitby baby’s life
Posted May 2, 2012 1:40 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A Whitby family might have lost their newborn son if not for a quick-thinking Durham police officer.
Just after 4 p.m. Friday, Const. Adam Handscomb was in his cruiser near Dundas and Annes streets, when he got a call from 911 dispatchers about a five-week-old boy who had stopped breathing in a nearby house.
Handscomb arrived at the home to find the baby without a pulse and purple from the lack of oxygen. He performed CPR until the child started to cry and colour returned to his face.
“I was literally 24 seconds away from the house when I got the call,” Handscomb said.
“I just picked up the baby. I didn’t really have time to think about it. Training kicked in and I did what I had to do. When the baby let out a little cry, I said, ‘OK, this is good news.'”
Paramedics took the baby to hospital for observation and doctors said he will be fine. The baby, a twin, had choked not long after being fed.
The family thanked everyone involved for saving his life, but declined an interview.
Handscomb said, by chance, he had taken a CPR refresher course just hours before the incident.
