First responders are heroes each and every day, often times putting their lives on the line in order to help others.
So for one Billings police officer, it may have all been in a day's work, but this week she was honored for her actions in saving a life of a young child.
Three Billings police officers received special recognition from Chief Rich St. John for heroism at the Billings City Council meeting on Monday.
Officer Annalisa Jones saved the life of 2-year-old Lance on April 18.
His mother, Serenadee Boe, says her son has asthma and was choking on food.
"I just felt something wasn't right," Boe said. "And then he just went limp and so I called 911. And they wanted me to do chest compressions on him."
"Officer Jones was first on the scene and ran to the victim's apartment," St. John said. "Her body camera captured a traumatic scene with parents huddled over an unresponsive baby lying on its back and wearing only a diaper."
"Assessing the scene when you walk in and then performing CPR and then back blows to dislodge the object that was in his airway," Jones said about helping Lance.
St. John said Jones then put Lance on his side and stabilized him for the paramedics.
"She followed the ambulance to the hospital as her personal assurance to the parents that their child was okay," St. John said. "And the ER doctor did confirm that and told Officer Jones that she had saved the baby's life."
And Boe could tell her son would be all right before going to the hospital
"After he started crying," Boe said. "That's when I knew after she was doing the backflows and he started crying I was like okay, it's like it's fine."
Boe said Jones calmness helped, and she appreciated seeing her receive the life-saving award.
"That's great," Boe said. "It's nice to see her. It was great to see her get that because she definitely deserves it. She deserves more than that."
"And then a week later, Officer Jones returned to the baby's house to check on her patient and the parents," St. John said. "Suffice to say a warm welcome and it did bring dinner invitation for later."
"It's great to get to know her and know that she has a bond with my son," Boe said about Jones.
"Officer Jones's actions have reflected great credit upon herself and the Billings Police Department," St. John said.
