Little boy saved by quick-thinking officer during Memorial Day parade

On Memorial Day in Concord, Connor was sucking on a piece of hard candy as he took in the sights and sounds of the parade.

"Took my eyes off him for a minute and (it went in here) it went in his throat and he started to choke," said Nicholas Orpik, Connor's father.

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Luckily, Police Sergeant Jeffrey Young was in the right place at the right time. He had just finished leading the honor guard in the parade when he saw little Connor in distress.

"Sgt. Young came right out of nowhere and took care of business," said Nicholas.

"There was someone in the crowd that just yelled out 'someone's choking' and it happened to be right behind where I was standing," said Sgt. Young.

Sgt. Young performed the Heimlich maneuver, a life-saving technique he's trained on every year, but had never used during his 13 years as a police officer.

"A little peppermint disc came flying out of his mouth and landed on the ground and he started crying which was great to hear because he was obviously breathing at that point," said Sgt. Young.

In that moment, Connor's parents breathed a big sigh of relief.

"Sgt. Young really took control. I really didn't see him coming," said Nicholas. "I was kind of focused and he came right out of my blindside and swooped right in, didn't hesitate a minute and knew exactly what to do. The whole event lasted probably 30 seconds or so. Felt a little bit like an eternity, but it was over pretty quick."

Firefighters made sure to check Connor before clearing him to go home with his parents, but not before having some fun.

"I let him wear my hat and I made him Sgt. for the day, he got a kick out of that," said Sgt. Young.

While Sgt. Young says he was just doing his job, for Connor it was so much more than that - Sgt. Young saved his life.

"It felt great to help out, police officers are here to help, that's what we're here to do," said Sgt. Young.