New Canaan Police Officer Honored For Saving Baby Boy

NEW CANAAN, Conn. (CBSNewYork) - A New Canaan police officer has received high honors from his department for saving a baby's life earlier this month.

As WCBS 880 Connecticut Bureau Chief Fran Schneidau reported, Officer Ronald Bentley Jr. responded to a family emergency on Jan. 13.

The couple's 4-month-old baby boy had stopped breathing and was blue by the time Officer Bentley went to work on him.

"I held the baby in my left arm like a football, really literally like a football and began disrobing the baby, taking its clothes off to see if there were any signs of life at all and there were none," he told Schneidau.

Officer Bentley administered back blows. Almost a minute passed before the baby responded.

"I was going to do everything in my power to attempt to make that baby breathe," he told Schneidau.

Officer Bentley said while he fought for that baby's life, he imagined his own son who is about the same age.

He said he did not want the family to lose their baby boy.

Bentley on Monday received the Medical Service Award for his actions on Jan. 13.

"He remained calm and relied on his training to do what needed to be done despite the high level of stress he was experiencing at the moment," a press release said.

The baby was taken to Norwalk Hospital, where he was diagnosed with a milk allergy.

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