Philadelphia sergeant saves choking toddler with back blows at playground

A Philadelphia police sergeant saved a choking toddler at a South Philadelphia playground in March, performing approximately 30 back blows and CPR to restore the child's breathing before fire medics arrived, according to ABC7 Los Angeles.

Body camera footage released May 20 shows Sgt. Thomas Cain's life-saving intervention, underscoring how first-responder emergency training can mean the difference between life and death when medical crises unfold in public spaces far from hospital care.

Cain arrived at the South Philadelphia playground to find the toddler unresponsive — her eyes rolled back, her tongue swelling, with no signs of breathing, according to ABC7 Los Angeles. The child had been choking on a chip when the emergency call came in.

Body camera footage captured Cain striking the child's back repeatedly, urging her to respond. "Come on, baby. Come on," Cain said as he worked to clear her airway.

The sergeant described a chaotic scene on the crowded playground. "There was a ton of people out here, so I was trying to figure out kind of who was mom in that sense. While I'm also trying to do CPR," Cain told ABC7 Los Angeles. He added that the toddler's small size and the lack of a flat surface compounded the difficulty of the intervention.

Asked how many back blows he performed, Cain did not hesitate. "I would say closer to 30 at least," he said.

Eventually, the child began breathing again. "Oh, absolutely. And then I was just making sure that she kept breathing. There's still a lot more to do. And that's when our Philadelphia fire medics came rolling up," Cain said, describing the moment of relief as the child responded and emergency services took over.

Despite the dramatic rescue captured on body camera, Cain deflected the hero label. "I mean, we do it every day. So it's not just me, but I kind of my officers and stuff for being there," he said, crediting his fellow officers rather than his own actions.