An off-duty California police officer was on his way home from the movies recently when he stopped to save a choking baby.

Officer Gilbert Troche, a San Pablo police officer, was driving home from the movies with his family just before the incident. Troche told KRON-TV that he spotted a hysterical mother on the side of the road near Livermore.

Troche pulled over and immediately ran to the mother who handed him her baby, who according to Troche, was already turning blue.

“There was a lady on the side of the road, outside of her vehicle holding her baby in her arms and she appeared to be very distraught,” Troche explained. “She basically handed me the baby,” he said.

Video taken by Troche’s 12-year-old daughter shows the officer holding the baby face down and patting his back. After performing back thrusts and telling the mother to make sure any food in the baby’s mouth was dislodged, the baby began to breathe again.

He said the baby first coughed, then threw up and started crying.

“I definitely don’t feel like a hero,” Troche said. “I think anybody in that situation that had seen her there as distraught as she was would have probably tried to do the same thing.” 

Troche said he wants to get in touch with the mother to make sure the baby is okay.

The San Pablo Police Department lauded their officer, who was “Officer of the Year” in 2018. He has been with the department since 2013 working as a field training officer.

“Officer Troche’s heroic actions are nothing short of a miracle and we are extremely proud to have him as a member of our Police Department. His quick thinking and decisive action no doubt saved a life,” the department said.

Troche’s family couldn’t stop talking about his heroic action that day.

“They talked about it all day long, which was awesome,” Troche said with a laugh. “That was the best feeling.