Two police officers are being hailed as heroes after saving the life of a choking infant.
LAPD Metropolitan officers Kenneth O Steen and Christian Marroquin were patrolling the 1600 block of East 32nd Street in South Los Angeles on Thursday when a woman approached them.
"My baby is choking!" the woman screamed.
She was "visibly distraught" and "crying," Marroquin said.
Liliana Bahena told the officers that her baby was unable to breathe and turning blue.
After requesting an ambulance a few minutes prior, Bahena was becoming impatient and that's when she spotted the officers patrol car a few houses down.
The officers followed Bahena to her home, and saw the child's father holding the 2-year-old in his arms. The child was gasping for air, they said.
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Officers requested an ambulance and performed CPR on the boy. After a few attempts, the child spit out an earring.
The boy let out a loud cry and soon began to breathe normally.
The Bahena family and the officers who saved her son were reunited on Sunday.
"I don't know what would have happened if they hadn't been there," Bahena said. They "saved my son's life."
Marroquin said that he and his partner were "fortunate that we were at the right place at the right time."
Bahena and her family gave the officers a thank you letter expressing their gratitude.
"For me, they're heroes because they saved my son's life," she said. "And I'm very grateful for that."
