The quick action of a police officer in South Carolina saved the life of a newborn baby after pulling over a car for speeding.

Berkeley County Sheriff's Office Deputy William Kimbro was on a routine traffic posting on June 11th when a car sped by near Summerville, South Carolina. Kimbro pulled the car over promptly and went to address the driver as if it were a routine traffic stop. However, the woman in the passenger seat explained that her 12-day-old baby wasn’t breathing after drinking from her bottle.

Kimbro acted quickly to help, taking the baby, named Riley, for a moment before putting her back in her mother’s lap.

After making sure Riley had a pulse, he began massaging and tapping her chest to help her breath and keep the heartbeat going. The mother explained that she fed Riley before putting her down for a nap when she started choking the milk.

Kimbro kept massaging Riley chest and urging the baby to “cry for me” and “open those eyes.” Riley did eventually let out a small cry and assured the mother that she was breathing. He kept caring for the newborn until responders arrived to take over.

“Deputy Kimbro took the baby’s limp and cyanotic body and performed lifesaving first aid. As a result, he was able to get the baby to breathe again until EMS could arrive,” Berkeley County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. “Because of Deputy Kimbro’s steadfast, professional and heroic response, the 12-day old baby was able to live.”

Kimbro was awarded a “life-saving medal” for his actions in saving baby Riley, who is reportedly doing very well in the aftermath. And while investigators were not able to nail down a cause for why the baby stopped breathing, they did determine it was an accident.

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In this representative photo, police cruisers respond as demonstrators march in protest outside the Ferguson Police Department in Ferguson, Missouri, Nov. 26, 2014. Michael B. Thomas/AFP/Getty Images
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