A Dallas police officer helps save a one-year-old child who is in the emergency room

A break from a night of training turned into a heroic and life-saving moment for a Dallas police officer.

Master Corporal Sergio Perez of the Dallas Police Department said the drill took place on the evening of January 10. During the break, Perez said he wanted to buy his K9 partner chicken nuggets for his good performance during the workout.

Perez drove to a McDonald’s near Grand Avenue and Interstate 30 in Dallas, where he said the woman began waving at him and pointing to a parking lot.

“So I assumed something bad was going on,” Perez said.

Then he noticed a woman who came around the corner, holding her one-year-old son in her arms and calling for help. The child was not breathing and seemed lifeless, Perez recalls.

Since Perez’s K9 partner was in his patrol car, he was unable to take the woman and child to the hospital. While they waited for the ambulance, he began to give the child chest compressions.

Perez said it was the first time in his career that he had to undergo cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

“Come on, buddy. He breathes,” Perez can be heard speaking in a body camera video released last week. “He is breathing. He breathes. He’s breathing, ma’am. His eyes are blinking.”

After the child began to breathe, he began to have convulsions. By that time, paramedics had arrived and taken him to the hospital. Perez told NBC 5 on Saturday that the baby and mother are doing well.

“You know it’s a cliché? Just here at the right time. Protect and serve, if you will. I was just glad that I could help her child,” he said.

Perez is an officer with 24 years of experience.