Officer Saves Life Of 2-Year-Old At State Fair Of Texas
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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Unfortunately, it wasn't all fun and games for a mother arriving to enjoy the State Fair of Texas on Sunday. But the family was in luck a Dallas police officer was the one who heard and responded to her cries for help.
The young mother, who has not be identified, had set out with her three children, headed for Fair Park in Dallas. Once she pulled into an area parking lot she found that her 2-year old son had stopped breathing. The lot was near a State Fair gate entrance and was being guarded by Dallas Police Department Senior Corporal Matt Gnagi.
When the woman began screaming Gnagi, a 33-year police veteran, ran to the woman's aid. At a Monday afternoon press conference, Gnagi said found that the boy had turned blue from a lack of oxygen and was indeed not breathing.
The officer said he immediately began CPR. "I put the child on the ground and started to see that he was in distress and I started breathing for him," Gnagi said matter-of-factly. "I breathed for him and he came back around."
Gnagi said he continued resuscitation until the little boy was able to breathe on his own. "I don't know how long it took, but he took some breaths and came back to where he could survive on his own."
Dallas Fire and Rescue took the child to a local hospital, where on Monday he was said to have made "a remarkable recovery". Since rushing to the rescue, Senior Corporal Gnagi has also visited the little boy. "The young man is a beautiful child, he's doing fantastic and I'm just so happy to see him up and jumping around."
Senior Corporal Gnagi explained how special it was to be able to not only help the little boy, but see him recovered. "I wanted some closure. I wanted to see him. Sometimes the hardest thing about our job is we don't get closure. We got it today."
DPD deputy Chief Scott Walton said there are dozens of Dallas police officers stationed and working all across Fair Park.
The State Fair of Texas runs through October 18.
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