Story highlights The baby was choking on food

"I can't see another person being her godfather," the girl's mother said

(CNN) Officer Kenneth Knox didn't know it at the time, but a child he saved from dying would soon become his goddaughter.

Late last month, Knox responded to an emergency call of a two-month-old girl choking on baby food. With seconds to spare, he arrived at the scene to find Ma'Yavi Parham on the brink of death. He laid her down and immediately performed what he calls "reverse" CPR.

"I've been trained in CPR but I thought that would push the cereal further down so I just sucked it out," Knox told CNN affiliate WDIV. "It took me a couple of tries."

The girl's father pleaded for the officer to save her, wailing "My baby!" His cries for help, Knox described, "hit me hard."

Within moments, Ma'Yavi began breathing normally again.

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