Heroes: Brooksville FHP Trooper, aided by passerby, credited with saving choking infant
Photo of Trooper Ortiz courtesy of FHP.
Just after 6:00 pm on Sunday evening March 26, 2023 as Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Billy Ortiz was concluding his shift and arriving at his Brooksville residence, he was flagged down by a motorist traveling at a high rate of speed, blowing the horn of his pickup truck. The driver, a 25-year-old man from Brooksville, Florida, stopped his truck when he saw Trooper Ortiz. He exited his truck and began shouting to Trooper Ortiz that an eight-month-old infant was choking.
When Trooper Ortiz and a passerby, who identified herself as a retired nurse, were unable to clear the obstruction from the infant’s throat, Trooper Ortiz and the nurse immediately took the infant to Oak Hill Regional Hospital in Brooksville, Florida via Trooper Ortiz's patrol car.
Medical staff members at the hospital were able to clear the obstruction - which was found to be a plastic wrapper - from the infant's airiway. Trooper Ortiz’s rapid, decisive actions were credited with saving the infant’s life.