Police officer Jason Short thought he was about to save a life.
After receiving a 911 call to reports of a baby left alone in a hot car, the officer rushed to the Walmart car park in Keene.
He spotted the baby, wrapped in a blanket with a bottle next to it and immediately smashed the window to rescue her.
But he quickly noticed that she was motionless and began performing CPR on her after calling an ambulance.
He told WMUR-TV: ‘I went to put my finger in its mouth and it was all resistance. And I’m like, “This is a doll.”‘
It turns out the doll belonged to Carolynne Seiffert, who has been using lifelike dolls as a coping mechanism ever since her son died from Hunter’s disease in 2005.
Seiffert, who named the $2,000 (£1,531) doll Ainsley, told the channel: ‘I’ve been laughed at and embarrassed by all the fuss. You can’t know how people choose to deal with their losses in life.’
Life-like dolls are known as reborn dolls that can be sold for anywhere between $30 and thousands of dollars.
They’re made to look life-like by substituting plastic eyes for glass eyes and either hand-implanted mohair or human hair.
Keene police chief, Brian Costa, has offered to pay $300 to fix Seiffert’s window.
He said: ‘If all indications are that a baby is in a car in upward of well over 90-degree weather, officers will break car windows.’
Short said: ‘I would never assume that it’s a doll. I would always assume that it’s a child. I would never do anything different.’
Great work by the officer, you have t always assume in this situation that the doll was a child. Make sure you book in to a first aid course in Canberra with us at Canberra First Aid and Training. Also check out or facebook page Canberra First Aid and Training. We will teach you all of the first aid skills required to help in an emergency.