South Valley man saves baby after family escapes rollover crash

VISALIA, Calif. (KFSN) -- A South Valley man helped save a baby after the child's family barely escaped a rollover crash.

Mike Spicer was driving home when he spotted a wreck on Highway 198 in Visalia and a man carrying a baby on the side of the road. "I saw the baby was unresponsive and not breathing," Spicer said.

He stopped to help and said the man handed the baby to him, "It was emotional to me," Spicer added, "I think I got soft over the years cause I had tears in my eyes."

Spicer was a CHP officer for 27 years. He patrolled this same highway and the training, he said, kicked in, "to me, this comes normal really."

He massaged the baby's chest, then put him in his truck to start CPR. Minutes later, Spicer said, he felt the baby breath and watched him open his eyes. "Sometimes when you prod and poke an infant, they're all over the map and it might just be reminding them to breathe," Spicer said.

The baby's name is Ryder Lockwood. He was taken to the hospital and he's back at home with his mom, Brittany, "I'm just thankful that he's here, I'm thankful they were there to help me and Mike was there to help me with him," she said.

Lockwood said Spicer and the other man who stopped are the heroes, but her instincts also kicked in that day. After she lost control and flipped the car with her three kids inside, Lockwood said, she climbed through smoke and broken glass to get them out. "I was trying to get the kids out as fast as I could because I didn't know if it was going to blow up," Lockwood said.

Spicer said at the time, he was listening to a sermon on his phone. He believes a higher power was involved and his training helped save a life, "This baby, somebody was watching over this baby."

Lockwood said her kids were in child seats and she was buckled up. All of them were checked out at the hospital. She said Ryder went back a few times, just in case and the only injuries are cuts and bruises.