Surveillance video at a Highland assisted living facility shows a nurse springing into action to resuscitate a one-year-old boy.

That nurse, Rashema Johnson, is being hailed as a hero by her colleagues, police and the parents of the boy.

"My only focus was, 'This child is not breathing,' " said Johnson, the Director of Nursing at Hudson Valley Rehabilitation and Extended Care Center in Highland.

On January 10, while his mother was being interviewed for a job at the facility, Ethen Harden, 1, was waiting in the car with his father, Chris Harden. That is when Ethen stopped breathing.

"I didn't even open the door to get out of the car," Harden said. "I got right in the back seat."

Harden immediately rushed in to the rehab facility, seeking help.

He passed Ethen over to the first person he saw inside -- Rashema Johnson, who happened to be the person conducting the job interview with Ethen's mother, Katherine Gregory.

As the surveillance video shows, Johnson dropped her interview materials and grabbed Ethen to take him to a nearby hallway with more space so a full team could attend to him.

She immediately called 911, and began CPR on Ethen, who was turning blue.

Johnson, who was a pediatric nurse for 20 years, said she sensed there might have been a severe mucous plug in Ethen's airway.

"A strong heartbeat came back, and I was able to clear his airway with suctioning and oxygen therapy," Johnson said. "His color came back. He began to cry. He sneezed. He coughed. It all happened rapidly, within two to three minutes."

Once baby Ethen was revived and put back into his mother's arms, the surveillance video shows other staff smiling and one other nurse resting his head against a post, apparently relieved.

"The look on the mother's face just showed you everything," said Town of Lloyd Police Detective Anthony Ventura, who responded to the 911 call. "You know, we sometimes take life for granted. You have to enjoy every moment of your life on this earth."

During a visit to the center on Tuesday, Katherine Gregory said Johnson is a hero and her family was lucky that Johnson -- who happens to be experienced in infant care -- took such quick action.

The couple had considered leaving Ethen with a relative, but decided to bring him along to the job interview.

Gregory shivers to think what would have happened if Ethen stopped breathing while at home.

"No one is promised tomorrow," Gregory said with tears falling as she held Ethen in the same hallway where Johnson saved his life. "Then again, whatever allowed us to be here when we were supposed to, we're grateful for it."

The center's staff is still blown away.

"I knew she was great," Nursing Assistant Carol Nooks said, "but this proves more to me the kind of person she is. She's a hero. She's so caring. She's more than just a nurse."

That is not how Johnson would describe herself nor what she did.

"I would just say it was a proud moment to be a nurse that day," Johnson said, "and to have the experience and background that I have to be able to help this family."

Gregory ended up getting the job for which she was interviewing.