A fender bender made a Dalton cop available to save a baby’s life this week after the child choked eating his vegetables.

Officer Michael Houck was wrapping up his work on the minor wreck Monday when a neighbor ran up frantically speaking in Spanish according to the police department. One of the drivers involved in the crash translated and told Houck that a baby was choking.

By the time Houck ran the half block to find the 7-month-old baby in the front yard with his mother, the child was not breathing or crying.

Houck applied back thrusts until the baby coughed up a small piece of a carrot. The baby immediately began to cry and gasp for air. Responding paramedics determined the child was OK.

Along with the fender bender and Houck’s quick response, Dalton police credited the CPR training officers receive annually for the rescue.

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Angie McBrayer, ex-wife of James Aaron McBrayer, leans her head on her son Sam McBrayer as she and her three children and two grandchildren (from left) Jackson McBrayer, 3, Piper Jae McBrayer, 7, Katy Isaza, and Jordan McBrayer, visit the grave of James McBrayer, Thursday, November 20, 2025, in Tifton. He died after being restrained by Tift County sheriff's deputies on April 24, 2019. His ex-wife witnessed the arrest and said she thought the deputies were being rough but did not imagine that McBrayer would die. (Hyosub Shin/AJC)

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC