Police officer saves child choking on candy

A police officer arrived just in the nick of time to save a 3-year-old who was choking on candy as his mother desperately tried to get help.

The incident was caught on the officer's body camera, which wasn't even on when the off-duty officer arrived at the scene. However, the child bumped the camera, turning it on, recording the rescue.

It happened last week at a store in Mesquite, Nevada.

The parents of the boy came rushing into the store, and the clerk called 911.

By that time Damien Valencia was semi-conscious, choking on a jawbreaker candy - the size a quarter - that he got at a birthday party.

"It was just scary," said his mother, Mariana Cardiel.

Off-duty police officer Quinn Averett was less than a block away, when he heard the call go out for a rescue.

"I took the child from the father, I turned him upside down over my knee and began a reverse Heimlich maneuver," Averett said.

"Come on, buddy," Averett could be heard to say on the body cam.

That body camera footage captures the moment the officer saves little Damien.

"All right! You ok?" Averett is heard saying as Damien is heard to cry "Mommy!"

Days later, at the police station, Damien's family met with Averett to thank him for saving the boy's life.

"When I saw him I just started crying," Mariana said.

"I cried a little bit because it really touched me because I have children of my own," said Averett.

Averett will be honored next month by the police department and the local city council with a life-saving award - and Damien's family will be there.