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Georgia officer hailed as a hero after saving baby's life

Georgia officer saves baby
Georgia officer saves baby who couldn't breathe 01:45

Waynesboro, Georgia — A police sergeant in Waynesboro, Georgia, is being hailed as a hero after a newly released body camera video shows him saving a baby who couldn't breathe. Harold Drummond jumped into action when he saw 6-month-old AJ Sherrod outside a Dollar General store last month.

"When I looked down at that baby AJ, I looked down into my son's face. I looked down into my grandson's face" Drummond told CBS News. 

His knowledge of two-finger infant CPR saved AJ, who was suffering from a respiratory infection. AJ's family was headed to a children's hospital on January 18 when he stopped breathing, so they pulled over to call 911, CBS affiliate WRDW-TV reported.

AJ's mother, Angel Collins, said Drummond was in the right place at the right time. "He allowed God to use him to help us save the baby," she told CBS News.

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Harold Drummond holds 6-month-old AJ Sherrod. CBS News

Drummond told WRDW he was "extremely nervous" and would "prefer to look down the barrel of a gun than to look down at a baby in distress."

Collins said the "what-ifs" are unimaginable and life would be unthinkable without one of her twins. Even Drummond got choked up when he thought about what could have happened.

"It's hard," he said. "This is what we do. You know, a lot of people don't realize that we're human also."

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