We don’t always hear about or have a chance to focus on the moments when people are their best and when things go right. Sometimes, it seems like scanning the headlines of newspapers and watching the news is an opportunity to only hear about the ugliness of life and frightening future prospects, as well as how people fail each other continually. This isn’t one of those stories, but rather a story of hope and people living out their vocations in ways that serve their neighbors.
Florida K-9 officer Jeremie Nix saved the life of a three-month-old baby named Kingston on Wednesday, who was in medical crisis in a car in Ocala, a city an hour north of Orlando.
Nix was off work at the end of his shift when he came upon a scene that would terrify any parent. Nechole, the mother of baby King, describes what happened in an emotional Facebook post on a page normally used for rumors and other dirty laundry in Ocala:
“Not dirty…….. let me just say that yesterday GOD showed me just how real he was. My son KING was barely breathing, & fighting for his life. My sister & I noticed an officer sitting at a red light & we got his attention. With his fast thinking HE & GOD saved my son…. after his shift he and his beautiful wife came to shands just to see him again. His word to me was “Don’t you worry, i will not leave until i help save your son!” “GOD had me in the right place because he knew you needed me… THANK YOU OFFICER JAY NIX FROM THE OCALA SHERIFFS OFFICE K-9 unit !! I just wanted the world to know how great this officer is, & how GREAT GOD is…….. not all officers are bad, he’s one of many good guys ️️ KING & I WILL FOREVER APPRECIATE YOU.”
She included two pictures with the post.
The first is Deputy Nix holding King, wrapped in a hospital blanket, oxygen tubing connected to the tiny baby. In the second, you can see Nix standing in front of the baby in the hospital, as the nurses and doctors there work to help the baby.
Nix saw a mother in desperate need of help, and he stopped to try to help her and her baby. If you’re someone who cries, the video will probably make you cry both happy and sad tears, because it’s an intense ride.
Nix spots Crowell driving with all of her hazards on, and follows her through an intersection, turning his car around to be able to pull over onto the side of the road behind her. As soon as the cars are parked, a passenger runs out of the car, carrying the limp body of the tiny baby, and Nix is there, immediately ready to grab him and start trying to help save his life. It’s clear the mother and her friend are distraught, and Nix can be seen reassuring them as he’s working on the baby.
He’s calm and promises the mother that he will not leave her or her baby until they’re taken care of. Since an ambulance wasn’t arriving quickly enough, Nix then picks up the baby and radios in that he will be driving the baby in himself and is en route.
The dashcam covers his drive to the hospital, which ends at the ambulance entrance where medical staff were ready for him and the baby.
The Marion County Sheriff’s department released a statement about the incident, which reads in part that, “Doctors also said that because of K9 Deputy Nix’s actions, Baby Kingston is alive today. We are tremendously proud of Deputy Nix and we can already see that he and Baby Kingston will have a deep connection that will last a lifetime!!”
Nix came back to check on King and see how he was doing at the end of his next shift, and the happy story continues here, too. The baby is recovering very well, and has been released from the hospital. A story that too easily could have ended in tragedy instead has a family with their baby safe and healthy.
And for the rest of us, it’s a reminder that for every negative interaction we hear about between the police and the public, there are these interactions that we might not hear about but maybe should. Connect with the law enforcement officers in your life, and ask them why they went into police work. Ask if they’ve had moments like this, where their presence was the difference between life and death, between a family grieving a child or other loved one and a life saved. Police officers don’t just respond to crimes, they’re first responders in medical emergencies, too.
No one wants to be in a crisis or worst case scenario, but when the unthinkable happens, we have people who have dedicated their lives to serving others ready to step in and help in any way that they can.