Rome Police Save Young Boy From Choking

It's every parent's nightmare that their child will choke on something. Luckily, a Central New York boy is now safe thanks to the quick work of three Rome police officers.

Elpida Bauman was strapping her 3-year-old son Alex into his car seat at the Franklin Field playground in Rome when he started choking on a jawbreaker candy. He was unable to breathe, so, in a panic, she called 911 and then her husband and Alex's dad, Rob.

He told Syracuse.com that when he got to the park, Sgt. Nick Martin, Detective Jeff Lanigan, and Officer Kelly Lupinski, along with paramedics, were working on Alex, trying to clear his airway.

"He looked lifeless," Bauman told Syracuse.com. "He was limp as a rag doll and had blue dye all over his face from the jawbreaker candy. They were doing the Heimlich maneuver, hitting his back and nothing was working. The police had to restrain me from trying too."

When the boy started to get some air, paramedics rushed him to the hospital in Rome, where they were able to remove the candy from his throat, according to Syracuse.com. Alex was then transferred to Upstate Golisano Children's Hospital in Syracuse. Now, he's back at home and doing just fine.

Bauman told Syracuse.com he is thankful for the workers at Franklin Field who led his 6-year-old son away so he wouldn't have to see what was happening with his little brother. Bauman said his family can't stop praising everyone who played a hand in saving Alex.

"They were phenomenal," Bauman told Syracuse.com. "We would have lost our son without them. We owe them a debt we can never repay."

The officers from the Rome Police Department are equally thankful that Alex is doing better. Officer Lanigan is even still in touch with Bauman, who has kept updated him with photos.

"It was the worst thing I've experienced in 12 years on the job," Lanigan told Syracuse.com. "We all have young children here, and to roll up on something like this was pretty awful. I'm just so thankful everyone could save him."

A job well done to all the hospital staff, officers and paramedics involved, and we're glad Alex is doing well!