Two police officers are being credited with saving the life of an 8-year-old boy who was strangling on his seat belt on the Verrazano Bridge.
Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Officer Edward Grimm told the Staten Island Advance that the boy was turning colors and his eyes were going back and forth.
"I felt like this kid was gonna die if we weren't there," Grimm said.
Grimm came upon the scene around 7 p.m. Wednesday when he responded to a disabled Honda Pilot SUV on the Staten Island-bound side of the lower level.
As he radioed for backup, Grimm saw Khrystyna Pendorak, 30, frantically yelling for help and leaning into the back seat for her son, Arthur Tyminsky, who was choking behind her.
Grimm said the belt was tightly wound around the boy's neck about eight times.
"It was like a piece of tape around his neck. You actually saw his skin coming over the belt because it was so tight, and the kid was turning colors. He wasn't talking," Grimm told the Advance.
Grimm and Officer Lee Simons were able to free the boy by cutting the belt with Simons' folding knife.
The officers speculate the boy was playing with the belt when it retracted.
The boy was treated by paramedics at the scene.
"He was pretty brave, the kid, given the circumstances. He didn't cry at all. He was pretty tough. He definitely hung in there," Grimm said.
