Body cam video shows Arizona police officer saving a baby

MESA, Ariz. (CBS, KYMA/KECY) - Mesa Police Officer Shaquille Perez was dealing with a passenger on the light rail near Main Street around 10:00am at the end of July, but that call quickly turned into one that would change his life.

"Something about having that moment with the baby, I think it will stay with me for the rest of my life. It was the first time in my entire life I've had to respond like this to an infant," Perez described.

His body cam footage shows a mother running toward him carrying her baby who wasn't breathing.

"[I] tried to do whatever I could to help...turn him over to the back and give him pats," Perez further detailed.

A miracle

Perez says what happened next seemed to be a miracle.

"A retired paramedic came up, let me know he was a retired EMT...He took over, put the baby in the squad car with AC...It's not very often you have citizens come up and perform life saving measures. Once I saw the baby take a gasp, and was breathing immediately, I felt a sigh of relief," Perez explained.

Perez says this happened in just a couple of minutes, but it felt like hours.

"It was, by chance, they happen to see my lights and stop by there. I don't know what would've happened if they had it, but I'm glad they trusted us enough," Perez spoke.

For Perez, this call brought up a lot of personal feelings as he will soon be a parent himself.

"We are expecting, so it was definitely one of those situations where it was super eye-opening...It was a very surreal time for me, just given everything that's happened with my own relationship and our child, or our expected child, and for this to happen, it was kind of an emotional time for sure," Perez shared.