An Indiana man saved a toddler's life during his first ever act as a police officer.
Hobart police officer Richard Mayer was eating at a local Chick-Fil-A with his colleagues on Jan. 14 when he noticed a toddler was choking on her meal.
Melissa Hasse, urgently picked up her daughter, Charlotte, and started running towards the man in uniform for help.
"I looked over and she started gagging. I could see something kind of in the back of her throat, mistakenly reached in to try to grab it out, I think that pushed it back into her throat," Hasse told ABC 7.
Mayer said the incident caught all of the officers off guard.
"She came running over... I grabbed her and Officer Ramos to my right flipped her over, we did back slaps on her and got food dislodged from her throat right away," Mayer said.
Hasse couldn't have been more grateful.
"This is what he was meant to do," Hasse said. "To save lives in some kind of way."
While an amazing story, this isn't the first time police officers have been in the news for doing something spectacular.
Earlier this month, the police department in Dallas, Texas made a 14-year-old boy diagnosed brain cancer, the city's police chief for a day.
According to CBS News, Ayodeji Adekilekun, who just months ago was running down a football field, was recently told he doesn't have long to live.
"Now the Adekilekun family is going through every family's nightmare," the boy's official YouCaring fundraiser page says. "They are losing a bright star and there is nothing they can do about it."
When the Dallas Police Department learned of the bedridden boy, they decided to do everything in their power to bring some joy into Adekilekun's remaining days.
"You're chief of police for the day. You can make any decisions," Dallas police chief Renee Hall told Adekilekun. "You can do whatever you wanna do today. And that means I can go play! I'm so excited to meet you."
Chief makes Ayodeji Augustine Adekilekum Chief for the day!
Posted by Dallas Police Department on Friday, January 5, 2018
During the holidays, a local business was able to help the officers donate $300 to the struggling family. On Christmas day, one even showed up to check-in on Adekilekun and provide the family a ham.
"I can't imagine somebody just walking in and giving me money," Adekilekun's mother, Gloria told the Dallas Morning News.
Do you have a touching story involving a police officer in your community? Share it in the comments!
