The police officer was patrolling a local children's hospital in Argentina when she heard the sound of a crying baby. She knew it was a call she needed to answer.
Officer Celeste Jaqueline Ayala had recently became a mother herself. She could tell from the wails the infant needed food. So, she sat down on a chair outside the hospital ward -- and breastfed him.
The move took Ayala's colleague by surprise. He snapped a photo and posted it on Facebook, where it has now been shared more than 100,000 times.
"I want to make public this great gesture of love that you displayed today with this baby," Marcos Heredia said on the post.
The incident
The incident took place at a hospital in the city of Berisso on August 14, which, coincidentally, is "National Day of the Female Officer" in Argentina.
However, the photo began doing the social rounds this week.
Heredia told CNN he didn't know why the hospital staff didn't feed the baby themselves.
CNN reached out to the hospital and Ayala but didn't hear back.
The Buenos Aires Provincial Police told CNN that Ayala spoke with hospital management before she breastfed the baby. The infant had recently been taken away from his mother, but police didn't say why.
The response
Because of her action, Ayala has now been promoted from officer to sergeant.
"We wanted to thank (Ayala) in person for that gesture of spontaneous love that managed to calm the baby's cry," Cristian Ritondo, the minister of security of the Buenos Aires province, tweeted. "An officer we're proud of. An officer we want."
The-CNN-Wire
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