PORT ISABEL — Officer Gerry Lopez went from enforcing traffic rules to saving the life of a young child who had stopped breathing.
Lopez, 22, was only one hour into his shift when he was flagged down by a woman screaming for help.
“I noticed a vehicle parked in the turning lane with their emergency lights on. I got off and immediately I made contact with the mother,” Lopez said. “She was crying and extremely distraught.”
Lopez said the woman was crying, “My baby, my baby, he’s not breathing anymore.”
The baby was on the passenger side lying on his father’s lap.
“As soon as I looked at the baby, you could tell the baby was turning bluish-gray,” Lopez said.
Lopez was on Highway 100 on Sunday, July 9, when he was flagged down to help the unresponsive baby in a vehicle.
“I started doing chest compressions for a couple of minutes and I started noticing the baby was changing back to normal and I saw movement on the baby’s face,” Lopez said.
Lopez said he automatically recalled his training from the police academy on how to apply CPR to a child.
“I told the daddy to keep the baby on his lap as I did the chest compressions with one hand,” Lopez said. “The mother and the father were in shock and were both crying.
“I looked at the baby and noticed the little stomach come up and down and I could feel the warmth of the baby’s breath.”
Lopez said EMS transported the baby to the hospital in Brownsville after he did CPR and brought the baby back.
Lopez said the mother of the child later updated the police department that the baby is doing much better.
“I really think God was with us and it was in God’s hands,” Lopez said.
Lopez has been a member of the Port Isabel Police Department for more than one year.
He grew up in Port Isabel and wanted to come back to his hometown to start his career in law enforcement because he knows everybody and everything about Port Isabel.
“As soon as you go in you don’t know what to expect,” Lopez said. “Every day is different.”
