Two Boston police officers honored for saving baby’s life

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Two Boston police officers who saved an infant’s life two years ago will be honored Sunday at the Boston Police Relief Association’s 149th Ball in Randolph.

It all started one day in September 2019 when Arelys Furtado from the South End was trying to give his 6 week old son Jaxen vitamin D through a dropper. She was doing exactly what he was advised to do, but he didn’t like the taste, she said, and he started to choke.

She tried to stay calm and started giving the baby the Heimlich Infant maneuver, turning him over and slapping him on the back with her index and middle fingers. But when that didn’t work, she called her husband, who works in the South End, and he picked her up and they headed to Boston Medical Center.

But Jaxen still couldn’t spit out the vitamin D. So when they were stopped at a red light on the way behind a Boston Police patrol car, Jair Furtado jumped, ran, and hit the window of the cruiser.

“I need help!” He shouted.

When he told them his baby was choking, Officers James O’Connor and Arthur Green got out and ran to his car, where O’Connor entered and picked up Arelys Futado’s baby.

The child appeared to be a reddish blue, Green said. And O’Connor also started giving him the Infant Heimlich maneuver while Green called an ambulance.

Within moments, the baby coughed up vitamin D, and then the baby started to cry.

“It was a great feeling to hear the baby cry because then you know the child’s breathing,” O’Connor said.

The two officers massaged the infant’s back as his color returned to normal and, a few minutes later, handed him over to the emergency medical technicians who had arrived by then.

The family went to Boston Medical Center.

“It was a good ending to a scary situation,” said Green, who himself had had a baby boy in May. “As a parent, it hits you harder; it’s more personal because you have a child. You hope someone would do it for your child if they needed help. When someone gives you a baby, you are doing what you think is right.

When the two officers receive their awards at Sunday’s ball, Arelys and Jair Furtado and their now 2-year-old son Jaxen will cheer and thank them for saving Jaxen’s life.

“I am very grateful that they were in the right place at the right time,” said Arelys Furtado. “Not a second was wasted.”

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