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- Deputies' quick thinking helped save a baby girl's life.
- Faith started choking on pasta, and after her parents tried to remove it, they called 911.
- Faith made a full recovery.
A family thanked Carson deputies whose split decision made the difference in saving the life of a choking 1-year-old.
It was Saturday night when 1-year-old Faith Gates started choking on a piece of pasta. When her parents were unable to dislodge it, they called 911. The operator walked Faith's mother through the Heimlich maneuver, but Faith had stopped breathing.
"I remember seeing him," Kiah Moten, the child's mother said as she choked back tears. "I remember seeing him run down the driveway and my daughter's body was like a rag doll."
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputies Melvin Castro and Omar Sanchez responded within a minute to the 2100 block of Grace Avenue.
"The mother of child ran toward me from upstairs and handed me the baby, essentially lifeless - she was not breathing," Castro, and 11-year veteran of the department, said.
Castro did CPR on Faith but quickly realized there wasn't time to wait for an ambulance so he told his partner, Deputy Omar Sanchez to drive to the hospital while Castro continued CPR in the passenger's seat. It was that split second decision that saved baby faith's life.
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"I'm not here for any recognition or anything like that. I just know that day we did our job and luckily we were at right place at right time," Sanchez said.
On the way, other deputies worked together to coordinate a safe route while blocking traffic.
When they arrived at the hospital, Faith was still gasping for air. She was handed over to hospital staff and Faith made a full recovery.
What makes this story even more incredible is that the deputy who drove is fairly new and had never driven a patrol car until that night.
