A pair of Texas parents narrowly averted tragedy, and an officer was hailed as a hero after he dislodged a tiny toy from their toddler’s throat 23 seconds after a frantic 911 call brought them together in a Taco Bell parking lot.
Daisy Walker noticed her daughter panting on Sunday while playing with her favorite plastic toy — the one she “takes to bed with her” and “wakes up asking about” — and suddenly realized that 2-year-old Addy was choking, though Daisy told KLTV she never suspected the toy.
She and husband Brian Walker attempted lifesaving measures, but those didn’t work. With time running out, the couple bolted from their home in Lindale toward an urgent care at the end of their block. Daisy clutched the limp tot and her husband yelled into his phone to the 911 dispatcher, “My daughter is dying!”
But the urgent care was closed and the Walkers were beside themselves. At that instant, Sergeant Michael Lazarine of the Lindale Police Department pulled into the Taco Bell next door in answer to the dispatcher’s call.
The stars were aligned. Mere months earlier, the department had brought in a CPR specialist who showed the officers how to rescue children, whose delicate bodies require a modified Heimlich.
“It’s almost as if I was supposed to be ready for this specific moment,” Lazarine told KLTV.
The 24-year police force veteran had never encountered the situation, but he was primed. Bodycam activated, Lazarine exited his car, retrieved the child from her father’s arms and began compressions on her stomach, turning her occasionally and keeping the pressure steady.
After a few seconds that must have felt like an eternity, out popped an inch-sized plastic Pearl, the purple octopus from 2003’s “Finding Nemo” and its 2016 sequel, “Finding Dory.”
The three adults could be heard exclaiming off-camera, “There it is!” as the child started breathing again.
The entire episode was over in less than half a minute, records later revealed. The Walkers are convinced they owe it all to Lazarine and dispatcher Kimberly Smith, without whom Addy “wouldn’t be here today,” the girl’s teary-eyed mom told KLTV.
