(Editor's note: When this story originally appeared on November 14, we did not have a picture of the officer. He recently received a commendation from the city at which time Patch took this snapshot. The original story is reprinted below.)
A quick-thinking police officer saved the life of a two-year-old boy on Friday, November 11, when he dislodged a piece of food that had become stuck in the child's throat, stopping him from breathing and rendering him unconscious.
According to the San Leandro Police Department, at about 9:30 a.m. Friday Officer Jonathan Remulla arrived at the 2200 block of Warbler Court to look into a report of an unresponsive child.
Officer Remulla saw a 2-year-old boy in his grandmother's arms. The boy was unconscious. The officer took the child away from his grandmother and noticed that the boy was having difficulty breathing.
So Officer Remulla inserted his pinky into the boy's mouth and swept out an object that appeared to be food.
Once the object was removed, the child began breathing, his eyes started to flutter and he became responsive.
Officer Remulla kept an eye on the boy until Alameda County Fire officers arrived, followed by paramedics who took the child to the hospital for observation.
"A possible tragedy was avoided,” Police Department spokesman Sgt. Mike Sobek said.
