Clay County Sheriff’s deputy saves 1-year-old boy’s life

WEST POINT, Miss. (WCBI) – On Friday, a Clay County Sheriff’s deputy was in the right place at the right time to save the life of a choking 1-year-old boy.

“‘Help me, my baby’s dying, my baby’s dead, help me, help me! I know you can help me,” said Lt. Cassondra Smith, describing the cries for help from the concerned mother.

The Clay County Sheriff’s deputy says she was out doing her routine wellness checks in West Point on Friday.

“I’m always checking on the older people in the neighborhood,” Lt. Smith says.

Just before noon, Lt. Smith says Ishekee Edwards drove up to her at the corner of Pinkerton and Waverly Road with her unconscious son D.J.

“I was panicking and I was saying ‘Please save my baby, please save my baby, if there’s anything you can do,'” Edwards says.

Edwards says she drove off looking for help after her 1-year-old son choked on a cut-up hot dog

“He was limp and he was a little stiff,” Edwards says.

Lt. Smith began administering CPR to D.J. right on the side of the road.

“My training jumped in as to how I was trained and how I was supposed to do this CPR on this baby vs. an adult,” she says.

It wasn’t long before Lt. Smith found the hot dog stuck in the child’s throat.

“Once my finger hooked it, I pulled it out of his mouth and he gasped for breath and he started breathing and I let [his mother] know that he was OK,” Lt. Smith says.

Lt. Smith called it a miracle that she was there.

“Thank god that she was there and she rescued my son,” Edwards says.

After making sure D.J. and his mother got to the hospital safely, Lt. Smith says she broke down and wept. Clay County Sheriff Eddie Scott calls Lt. Smith a diamond for the people in Clay County and says she is the model for all law enforcement officers when it comes to training their new recruits.

“I feel blessed and I feel good knowing that I was able to do something to serve a purpose and save a life,” she says.