An infant's life was saved early Monday morning thanks to the quick thinking and actions of a child's mother and two Canton police officers.
The 911 call came in around 3 a.m. when Charnele Carpenter went to feed her 2-month-old son and found that he wasn’t breathing.
She started CPR and immediately called 911.
Two Canton police officers were nearby and sent to the scene because they were closer than paramedics. The officers were at the home less than a minute later.
“My son isn’t breathing,” Carpenter is heard saying on body camera video as she opens the door.
The officers, Timothy Thorn and James Dreussi, didn't miss a beat. After the baby was handed to Officer Thorn, body camera video shows him immediately start chest compressions on the tiny infant.
Agonizing seconds go by until finally, the officer finds a pulse.
“Wake up, wake up,” the officers are heard saying as they keep working on the child.
Then, the sound they’re all waiting for — the baby gasps for air.
“There you go! There you go!” Officer Dreussi exclaims.
Carpenter said she is grateful to the officers for their actions, as well as the paramedics and those in the NICU at Aultman Hospital, for helping to save her baby’s life.
She said she also wanted to make it clear that her actions helped save his life, too.
“I had to take CPR classes and everything to get my son out of the hospital. If I wouldn’t have done that, my son would be gone,” Carpenter said.
She said it was a message to all parents to learn CPR to know what to do when the worst happens.
Her son, who was born premature and suffers from apnea, is now home from the hospital and doing well.
