Beverly Hills security guard recounts the dramatic moment he stepped in to save a choking child
‘The baby turned blue’: Heartbreaking moment Beverly Hills security guards save the life of a choking toddler after a desperate mother pushed the child into their arms and collapsed on the floor
- Niko Nesbeth and Joey Madrigal, security guards at a Beverly Hills gas station, were alerted to a desperate mother on May 26
- Her baby was choking and she called for a doctor: when Nesbeth ran out, the mother gave Nesbeth the baby, and Madrigal called for paramedics
- Nesbeth can be seen tapping the baby on the back to clear the airways: the baby turned blue, but then started breathing again, and doctors soon arrived
Two Los Angeles security guards who work at a Beverly Hills gas station are praised for their quick thinking when they stepped in to save a choking baby.
Niko Nesbeth, a Marine veteran, and his partner Joey Madrigal were working the morning of May 26 at the 76 gas station on the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Crescent Drive.
One person rushed in to grab some water to help the child, saying a mother needed help: The panicked mother was seen on surveillance camera footage yelling, “Who’s a doctor?”
Nesbeth ran outside and Madrigal called for medics.
The mother pushed her child into Nesbeth’s arms and collapsed hysterically to the floor as Nesbeth tapped the baby on the back to restore his breathing.
The panicked mother, in the green top, can be seen pushing her choking baby into the arms of the guard, Niko Nesbeth
Niko Nesbeth said he was glad he was on site and able to help
“She was devastated,” said Jose Peraza, a gas station attendant who helped comfort the mother.
He told KTLA: ‘He was dying, not breathing or something. So some guards helped her.
“My partner told the guard to slap the little baby on the back.”
Nesbeth said he immediately realized the baby needed urgent attention.
“The mother is already throwing the baby into my arms,” Nesbeth said.
“When I look at the baby’s face, I see that the baby is turning blue.
“I could see his colors were changing, so I knew he was choking and not breathing.”
The mother, in green, sinks to the floor in hysterics as Nesbeth tends to the child
Joey Madrigal was tasked with seeking immediate medical attention for the baby
The pair said they believe it’s “divine intervention” that they were in the right place at the right time
Madrigal, who recently joined Covered 6 Security, said he knew professional medical attention was the priority.
“One thing I learned in training is that you have to slow down time; and you have to realize and just get all the facts and put it all together — because I was pretty much in charge of getting the rescue as quickly as possible,” he said.
Nesbeth said he was happy to help her and described his presence in the right place at the right time as “divine intervention.”
The baby was unharmed.
“It was the best feeling to feel this way,” he said Fox 11.
“To help a community — especially a little kid — that’s great.”