Columbia, SC (WLTX) - A Richland County deputy is being praised for saving a toddler who was choking on a piece of candy.
Here's something else: this same deputy did the exact same thing almost exactly one year ago.
This latest life-saving effort by Deputy Darlene Crawford happened Thursday at South Kilbourne Elementary School, where she works as a school resource officer.
The school was having a field day, and some of the parents were in the library where a registration event was taking taking place. One-year-old Kaleb Price and his mom, Felicia Jeter, were in the room, and Jeter's cousin was holding him.
The little boy was given a green peppermint to eat, and while he was enjoying the candy, something went wrong. Jeter says at first, it looked as if he was struggling to get away.
"I was actually about to pick him up when I noticed he was choking," Jeter said.
She yelled for help, and someone else ran out of the room and called for Deputy Crawford, who ran into the library.
When Crawford found the boy, he was in serious trouble.
"He wasn't doing anything, he wasn't crying, his eyes were stretched wide," she recalled. "He wasn't responding to anything...I think the candy was so big, it wouldn't move."
His mom was obviously distraught.
"I was thinking 'oh my God' I don't want my baby to die right here, that's the only thing I was thinking," Jeter said.
Crawford went into action, calling on her training and 25 years experience in law enforcement. She turned the child over,and began giving him compressions in his back. She had to do two sets before the candy finally came out.
"He began crying, so I knew then that he was okay," Crawford said.
She said she was about as relieved as the boy's mother.
"I just hugged him and I told him you scared me so bad," she said.
Jeter said while all of this was going on, she wasn't sure how to help her child.
"I didn't actually know what I was doing, I was glad that someone came along that actually knew how to help me," Jeter said. "I thank God she was there."
Crawford has kids of her own, and even though she mostly relied on training, her motherly instincts helped too.
"It snapped immediately when I ran in here and I took the child away," she said. "It just came into place automatically."
As for the little boy, after it was all over, he went home and took a nap.
"I thank you so much for being there for us in that time of need," the mom added.
Amazingly, Crawford did nearly the exact same thing a year ago. On May 27, 2016, she saved another little boy who also was choking on candy at an event at South Kilbourne. Previous Coverage: Deputy Saves the Life of Little Boy