It’s easy to forget that underneath the uniform and badge, police officers can be just as startled by emergency situations as anyone else. The difference is that they’ve been trained to face danger head-on—and to run toward it when everyone else might run away.
Officer Cody Hubbard is the newest member of the Pottsville, Arkansas Police Department. At just 23 years old, he’s still considered a “rookie,” but his recent actions prove that when it really counts, he’s more than capable of stepping up in a life-or-death moment.
Cody was called to the home of Joe and Katelin Chronister after their 3-week-old son, Grady, needed medicine to ease his stomach discomfort. While Joe was carefully administering the drops, the unthinkable happened: Grady suddenly began to choke.
“We were trying to give Grady his medicine… and he was taking them just fine,” Joe explained. “Right towards the end, he started choking.”
Panic set in as the tiny infant turned purple and stopped breathing. The Chronisters frantically dialed 911, hearts racing, while just a few miles away, Officer Hubbard received the urgent call. He sped toward their home, admitting later that he was “freaking out” the entire way, praying he could help this family in their most desperate moment.
Bodycam footage captures the tense rescue. Cody arrived on the porch to find Grady’s anxious parents gathered around. Carefully yet swiftly, he grasped the infant and delivered several firm pats on his back. Almost immediately, Grady began sputtering as the medicine that had blocked his airway was dislodged.
As he worked, Cody’s thoughts turned to his own daughter. “Whenever I roll up on a call involving a child, I try to treat them like they’re my own,” he said. “I imagine how I would want someone to help my child in that moment.”
Once Grady was breathing normally, he was checked by a doctor and is expected to make a full recovery. Cody described the intensity of the situation, saying that once he returned to his patrol car, he turned off his bodycam and let himself cry.
“I started bawling,” he said. “Mentally, I just broke down. But they were happy tears because I was so relieved to see that everything turned out okay.”
For his quick thinking and calm under pressure, Cody will receive a lifesaving award. But for this young officer, the true reward came in those first, precious breaths of baby Grady—a moment that brought relief, gratitude, and a powerful reminder of why he chose this line of work.
