Potato Chip Bag, Tape Saves Man's Life After Being Brutally Stabbed In Harlem

A New York City Police Department (NYPD) officer managed to save a man's life by using an empty potato chip bag and a roll of tape as makeshift tourniquets to patch up a gaping laceration following a stabbing incident in Harlem on July 7, earning praise from his colleagues.

Responding NYPD officer Rodney Kennedy arrived at the scene following a report of a stabbing. His bodycam video reveals the male victim, 28, hunched over on the sidewalk of Lenox Avenue in Harlem, telling police that the suspect caught him in his lung, Fox News reported.

Kennedy was quick to respond to the situation, ordering a member of the public to get him a bag of potato chips from the nearby bodega. He then emptied the chip bag and asked two other men to help him lay the man on his back after he sustained deep wounding to his torso.

The NYPD officer would use the bag of chips to cover up the victim's wound before ordering the same passerby to grab a roll of tape to secure the makeshift tool, which would prevent the victim's chest cavity from filling with air, according to PIX 11.

"It's the best I could do with what I had," he told paramedics as they arrived at the scene. Emergency services then changed the potato chip bag with a better seal.

The victim was then transported to NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem in critical condition, according to police. In a statement, the NYPD noted that an attending physician at Harlem Hospital attributed the man's survival to Officer Kennedy's determination and quick action to save the victim.

“This is just one example of the heroic work that your NYPD officers do every day,” NYPD’s Chief of Department Rodney Harrison said in a tweet.

Four days later on July 11, cops arrested Eric Rodriguez, 38, on suspicion of attempted murder, assault, and criminal possession of a weapon in connection with the stabbing, NBC News noted. New York City jail records indicate he was released Friday but no reason was listed as to why.

The New York County Defender Services did not immediately respond to a request for information.