'He Performed A Miracle': Upland Rookie Police Officer Saves Life Of Unresponsive 2-Week-Old Baby
UPLAND, Pa. (CBS) -- A rookie police officer in Upland, Delaware County is being called a hero after he saved an unresponsive newborn's life Sunday. Officer Jonathan Keeney says he was just doing his job.
At 21 years old, he has just a year's experience on the Upland Borough Police force, but he handled a very scary and stressful situation like a total veteran.
"I just kept asking him, 'Is she going to be okay? Can you save her? Can you help her?'" said Charmaine Freeman, baby Mecca's mother.
Freeman had the scare of her life Sunday when she realized her 2-week-old daughter stopped breathing.
"I was feeding her. I stopped feeding her. I went to go burp her and maybe like five minutes after I burped her, I realized she wasn't breathing," she said.
Freeman immediately called 911. Being just a block away at the police department, Officer Keeney arrived within minutes.
"Came outside on the porch, Officer Keeney came speeding to the rescue, jumped out and I want to say he jumped right into action, took her out of my arms and he performed a miracle because my baby wasn't breathing," Freeman said.
Keeney's CPR training was still fresh in his mind and years of lifeguarding before becoming an officer also proved invaluable.
"I applied a sternal rub, which was ineffective," Keeney said. "Then just gave a couple back blows to the baby, [she] ended up vomiting up anything that she had left in her system and started breathing again."
Mecca's cries were like beautiful music to her mom and Officer Keeney's ears.
"It was a big relief on my part," Keeney said. "All that was going through my head was just to get the baby breathing again."
"I would just thank him a million and one times," Freeman said. "I can never repay him for what he did yesterday. If it was not for him, yesterday could've turned out completely different. He is truly our hero here on earth."
Keeney says he's no hero, just an officer using his training to serve and protect.
"Best job in the world," he said. "I get to help people as much as I can. I enjoy every second of it."
Freeman says Officer Keeney even stopped by after she got home from the hospital with Mecca to make sure that she was okay. She is hoping he stops by again so that her daughter can have a photo with the officer who saved her
