'It Had Nothing To Do With The Badge': Officer Comforts Crying Toddler In Emergency Room

May 18, 2016

Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan police officer James Hurst responded to a call of a toddler walking alone down a high-traffic street in Savannah, Georgia, on the morning of May 9. With no adult in sight, the boy was taken by ambulance to Memorial University Medical Center.

The frightened 16-month-old screamed and sobbed while being examined in the hospital emergency room, so Hurst scooped the boy into his arms to comfort him.

Credit: Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department

The toddler quickly fell asleep on officer Hurst's chest and napped for nearly an hour. The touching moment was captured in a photo that was shared by the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department.

Hurst, a father of two, says he was simply doing what felt natural to him. "It had nothing to do with the badge," Hurst told TODAY. "It had to do with being a human being."