VIDEO: Indiana Officer Saves Toddler's Life First Day On The Job

An Indiana officer saved a child's life his first day on the job.

Around noon on Friday, Officer Richard Mayer and his fellow officers had just sat down to lunch at a Chik-fil-A restaurant in Hobart, IN, when Melanie Hassee rushed over holding her 15-month-old daughter Charlotte in her arms. She said she wasn't breathing and thought she was choking, reports WGN .

"She looked purple in the face," Officer Mayer said. "I grabbed her. Officer Ramos was next to me and flipped her over. We did the back slaps, three to four of them. It was an apple that was dislodged from her throat and we knew she was breathing again."

"I'm just so thankful he was there at the right time," Melanie says. "I don't think this was a coincidence that this was his first day. I think he was meant to be somebody who protects and who saves and I'm just so thankful for him."

Officer Mayer says he has a 1-year-old daughter of his own and has actually used this same baby Heimlich Maneuver on her before.