NewsPasco County

Actions

FHP trooper hailed a hero after helping choking baby

FHP trooper hailed a hero after helping choking baby
Posted at 5:33 PM, Mar 29, 2023
and last updated 2023-03-29 18:12:25-04

PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — A Florida Highway Patrol trooper is being hailed a hero for his fast action to help an eight-month-old who was choking.

Trooper Bill Ortiz thinks he was in the right place at the right time when he put his training into action. After finishing his shift, Ortiz walked toward his house when he saw a car going fast and honking the horn in his neighborhood.

"As soon as he stopped in front of my house, he was screaming and yelling that, you know, the baby was choking, the baby was choking, they needed help," said Ortiz.

FHP trooper hailed a hero after helping choking baby

That baby was 8-month-old Daylen. Ortiz immediately jumped into action.

"When I started tapping him on the back to make sure if I could get the obstruction out, at that point, the baby started crying, which was a relief for me because that would be a sign that the baby could breathe," said Trooper Ortiz.

Ortiz said nothing was coming out, so he and the baby's aunt, Chastity Bishop, took the infant in Ortiz's patrol car to the hospital, where the staff cleared the obstruction: a plastic wrapper.

"It's real hard when you see somebody coming out of nowhere with a baby that kind of looks like lifeless, no crying, nothing like that. It's a real shock. At that point in time, the only thing I could think of was, you know, to do the best I could to save the baby's life," said the trooper. "Everybody that was involved to keep the baby alive, they're all heroes."
On Wednesday, Ortiz and Bishop reunited. Bishop is a retired medical assistant. She and Daylen were in the backseat.

FHP trooper hailed a hero after helping choking baby

"Every time you would sit him up, he would literally stop breathing," said Bishop. "He got us to the hospital as quickly as possible, and there is no doubt in my mind 100 percent he saved that baby's life."

Bishop also shared how Daylen is on the mend.

"They took him off the vent, and thank god, he's starting to come to, reaching for his mom, crying, doing all the things he's supposed to be doing," said Bishop.