FORT WORTH, Texas — Body-camera video released by Fort Worth police shows officers and bystanders making a split-second decision after a violent rollover crash: lift the overturned SUV and get the baby out.
The rescue happened Thursday morning, Oct. 23, near Eastchase Parkway and Interstate 30 in East Fort Worth, according to CBS Texas. The station reported that a 1-year-old girl and her mother had been ejected from the vehicle moments before officers arrived.
In the bodycam footage, responders and Good Samaritans can be heard searching around the overturned SUV before one voice says what changed the entire scene: “I think the baby’s under.”
The moment the crowd lifted the SUV
According to The Associated Press, an officer ran toward the flipped vehicle, rallied bystanders and helped lift the SUV just enough for the child to be pulled from underneath.
The baby was unresponsive at first, AP reported, but officers found a pulse and began resuscitation efforts. Video shows officers working over the child, trying to get her breathing again. The AP reported that the baby eventually began making noises and then started to cry.
FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth reported that officers performed CPR and had the baby girl breathing by the time paramedics arrived.
Police say mother and baby were expected to recover
Fort Worth police said both the baby and her mother were stable and expected to make a full recovery, according to FOX 4. CBS Texas reported that the baby was stable in the hospital and that her mother remained hospitalized with serious injuries.
Fort Worth police praised Sgt. Nichols and Officer Bounds for their response, according to FOX 4, and also thanked the citizens who rushed in to help without hesitation.
“We are also grateful to the Fort Worth citizens who saw someone in danger and, without hesitation, assisted our officers,” the department said, according to the station.
Fort Worth Police Chief Eddie Garcia also praised the rescue publicly. FOX 4 quoted Garcia as saying the officers showed “unbelievable heroism” and that he was not sure “a better example of PROTECT and SERVE exists.”
Why this video is spreading
Part of what makes the rescue so powerful is that it does not look rehearsed or controlled. It looks like chaos: people shouting, an overturned vehicle, officers searching, bystanders pushing in, and a tiny life depending on everyone moving at once.
That is the part supporters of law enforcement should not miss. Before the press conference, before the edited video, and before anyone knew whether the child would survive, officers and strangers had to make a decision in seconds. They lifted the SUV, pulled the baby free, and kept working until she cried.
Sources reviewed
- CBS Texas reported the Eastchase Parkway/I-30 location, the bodycam-video release, hospital status and police-spokesperson remarks.
- The Associated Press reported that the 1-year-old was pulled from under the flipped vehicle, was initially unresponsive and was expected to make a full recovery.
- FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth reported the CPR detail, Fort Worth police statement and Chief Eddie Garcia’s remarks.
- CBS Texas on YouTube published the video segment sourced to Fort Worth police bodycam footage.
ThinBlueNews will update this story if Fort Worth police release additional official information.