A little boy lay in the hospital, scared and sobbing. Doctors couldn’t calm him — until a nearby police officer gently asked, “Can I hold him?”

Officer James Hurst, a new member of the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department, has won widespread praise after comforting a 16-month-old child found wandering alone in Savannah’s Cuyler-Brownsville neighborhood.

On May 9, Hurst was dispatched after residents spotted the toddler wandering through high-traffic areas. While his police training guided his actions, the officer admits that his experience as a father, including raising a child with Down Syndrome, deeply influenced how he responded.

“This job is so much more than just chasing the bad guys,” Hurst said. “It is about serving the citizens of the communities you work in and doing what they need you to do.”

The boy was taken to Memorial University Medical Center. During the medical examination, the frightened child began to cry. That’s when Hurst asked the staff if he could hold him.

“The boy, obviously being so small, became very upset,” Hurst explained. “I picked him up, and minutes later, he was asleep on my chest. With all my body armor and gun belt, it became heavy, so I sat down on the bed and let him rest.”

Hurst, a former U.S. Army Black Hawk crew chief, insists his actions weren’t extraordinary. “I didn’t run into a burning building,” he said. “I was just there for a child. We do this type of stuff every day.”

Police later confirmed the child is safe and in stable condition. The case has been referred to Georgia’s Department of Family & Children’s Services for review.