Duncanville officer honored for saving life of newborn on side of the road

The city of Duncanville is recognizing an officer who saved the life of a newborn who had been born on the side of the road and wasn’t breathing.

Officer Anai Figueroa received the city’s Life Saver Award.

During Tuesday’s city council meeting, friends, officers and Duncanville leaders celebrated as Anai Figueroa was officially named a hero.

The applause came moments after watching body cam footage of the moment Figueroa was called into action.

“It was a medical call with police,” said Figueroa.

On September 6, police said Figueroa was on patrol when she got a call that a woman had given birth in her car in a gas station parking lot and her baby wasn’t breathing.

“Those words stuck in my head, baby not breathing,” said Figueroa. “Immediately ran code there, that’s lights and sirens.”

Body cam footage of the incident showed what happened next: Figueroa could be seen putting on gloves and running to meet the mother in distress.

“She was holding her little one, upon looking at him I saw that he wasn’t moving, he wasn’t crying, he wasn’t breathing, and I couldn’t feel a pulse,” said Figueroa. “I immediately thought, ‘I need to help him, I need to get him breathing, I need to get him to cry.’”

The video went dark as Figueroa leaned forward and started to perform lifesaving measures.

Moments later, the baby could be heard crying, coming to life before her eyes.

“Relieving, I immediately started thanking God,” Figueroa said of the moment. “It felt great to hear him and see him moving.”

On Tuesday night, Duncanville presented Figueroa with the city’s Life Saver award, with a child still alive today due to the officer’s instincts and training.

“It’s what I signed up for,” said Figueroa. “I know all my coworkers would have done the same thing.”