Little Marcos Vega Jr. had stopped breathing and was turning blue, but 2 hero undercover cops sprung into action to save his life.
A Bronx dad praised two investigators from the Brooklyn district attorney’s office as his baby son’s “guardian angels” Tuesday after they brought the newborn back from the brink of death.
Marcos Vega had just returned with a box of diapers to his E. 169th St. home in the Concourse section of the Bronx when his wife and three daughters began screaming for help shortly after 1 p.m. Monday.
His wife, Kathleen Kilian, ran downstairs holding their 6-week-old son, Marcos Jr. — who had stopped breathing and was turning blue.
The frantic couple dialed 911 but didn’t wait for an ambulance — they darted outside near Grant Ave. and began flagging traffic for help.
“We tried to stop all kinds of cars,” said Vega, 36. “We tried to get a cab. Nobody would stop.”
That’s when Brooklyn DA investigators Vito Maniscalco and James Russell — who were working undercover nearby — spotted Kilian on the corner, sobbing and holding her limp baby.
The officers “risked blowing their cover” and rushed the family into their unmarked car to drive them to Bronx Lebanon Hospital, a law enforcement source said.
“They told us to get into the car,” Vega said. “One of the officers grabbed the baby (and) started giving him mouth-to-mouth.”
Russell gave CPR to little Marcos — who was bleeding from his left nostril — as Maniscalco sped down Grand Concourse to the hospital almost 2 miles away, sources said.
“(The officers) were his guardian angels,” said Vega, a construction worker. “They saved his life.”
The child began breathing just as the heroic officers pulled up to the hospital.
“I grabbed the baby and rushed into the emergency room,” Vega said.
The worried dad handed his only son over to a team of doctors and nearly collapsed.
“I’ve seen a lot of horrible things growing up in these streets, but nothing compared to what I was feeling,” Vega said. “But I had to stay focused.”
Doctors were still running a litany of tests on the baby boy on Tuesday, but they believe he stopped breathing because he caught pneumonia, Vega said.
The newborn may have choked on his milk because he was sick, Vega said.
Little Marcos was under observation in an ICU ward with his mother sitting at his bedside. The child was expected to make a full recovery and may be released next week.
“He’s 6 weeks old and he’s already a fighter,” Vega said.
Vega said he didn’t even want to imagine what could have happened if the two officers weren’t working nearby.
“If it weren’t for the cops, my son wouldn’t be here right now,” Vega said. “I want to thank them with all my heart. I owe them the world.”
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