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HOBART, Ind. – An Indiana police officer saved a child’s life on 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 in Hobart, Indiana.

Melanie Hassee was also there eating lunch with her 15-month-old daughter Charlotte.

Shortly after Officer Mayer sat down, Melanie rushed over to the table holding her daughter in her arms, saying she wasn’t breathing and thought she was choking, according to 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.