A New York police captain credited with saving a baby girl's life when she was just two months old, attended her wedding 20 years later.

On 29 December 1993, Captain Joseph Barca was the first to respond to a 911 call where two-month-old Shammah Hamideh had stopped breathing.

Yonkers Police Department

The captain cleared her airway, removed mucus from her mouth and performed CPR until she could be brought to a hospital where she was stabilised.

Shammah luckily made a full recovery and Barca and the Hamideh family remained close after the accident. He was even referred to as Shammah's 'American Father' by her Palestinian family.

More than 20 years after the accident and after her recent graduation from nursing school, Captain Barca and his wife attended Shammah's wedding.

Barca, who has served with Yonkers police for 45 years, told CBS News, “Her father gave her life the first time, and I gave her life the second time.”

Yonkers Police Department