Off-duty police officer saves mom and injured child in car crash

An off-duty police officer is being hailed a hero after he saved a mom and a bleeding baby from a car wreck on Interstate 30 in Little Rock.

According to NBC News affiliate 11Alive, Madison Cawthon, who works for the Pine Bluff Police Department in Arkansas, was making his way to North Little Rock at around 9 a.m when he noticed an unusual traffic jam. Usually traffic on the interstate can be credited to traffic, he told 11Alive, but this time seemed different.

“I saw people get out of their vehicles [and] I thought this isn’t normal,” he told 11Alive.

After leaving his car to investigate, Cawson learned that there was a “black vehicle turned on its side” and someone saying, “there is a baby inside,” so he immediately sprung into action.

Cawson climbed on top of the vehicle, opened the car door and got the mother and child out safely.

However, he noticed that the baby appeared injured.

“He was bleeding [and] leaking blood from his head,” Cawson said. “There was blood coming from his face.”

Once the mother and child were safely out of the car, Cawson took it upon himself to handle the congested traffic on the highway.

While directing folks on the interstate, he said he held the baby in his arms and told drivers where to go.

“No one else was available,” he said.

The mom has since thanked Cawson for being her “guardian angel,” and due to him being at the right place at the right time, Cawson believes there’s a reason he happened upon the car wreck on that very day.

“What’s the chances of an [off-duty] police officer being in a spot where a police officer couldn’t get to at that very moment,” he said.

“It wasn’t anything that I’m taking credit for,” Cawson added. “I wasn’t even supposed to be there at the moment, but clearly I was supposed to be there.”

11Alive later got in contact with the mother and she said her child is “recovering well” after suffering a “minor injury.”

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