THE BRONX — A police officer saved the life of a 2-month-old baby in Fordham Tuesday morning, according to the NYPD.
Sheila Pena and Victor Colon called 911 about 11:40 a.m. after little Adelyn Pena-Fernandez stopped breathing in their Bronx apartment, police said.
Officer Johnny Castillo, 38, was checking for speeding drivers on the nearby Grand Concourse when he heard to call on his police radio, authorities said.
The officer, who trained as a U.S. Army sniper and won two Purple Hearts during his three tours in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, ran upstairs to the couple's sixth-floor apartment near East 196th Street and found the frightened parents standing over the baby who was turning blue on the dining room table, according to police.
“Nothing that I’ve ever done in my life, in my military career or on this job can compare to what happened to me today,” Castillo said.
Castillo said he gave the girl four light chest compressions and saw her fists clench and her eyes open.
“I felt like it was my kid,” he told police. “I just told myself, ‘Don’t be nervous. Don’t be scared. Just take care of this little girl.’”
Adelyn was taken to Montefiore Hospital, where she was in stable condition, according to police.
