Aunt Saves 5 Months-Old-Baby’s Life Via CPR
While driving on one of the busiest highways in Miami, on the way from the hospital, an aunt who regularly looks after her nephew suddenly realized that he was no longer breathing.
Speaking to MailOnline, 37 yead-old Pamela Rauseo recounts,
“I was driving along the 836 Dolphin Expressway and he was crying. He’s always crying. Even when the car is moving, he’s constantly crying, we had come to a stop as we were stuck in traffic when suddenly the crying stopped. Everything was dead quiet. I knew something was wrong immediately.”
Daily Mail Uk gives a detailed account of this episode;
Adding to the drama, she was unable to see the little boy either by turning around or in her rear-view mirror because his car seat was facing away from her.
‘He was in the rear of the car but I couldn’t even check to see if he was still breathing,’ she recalled. Ms Rauseo pulled over in the fast lane of the highway, placed the car in park and raced around to open the back door. When she got round to the back of the car, her instinct proved to be correct. Sebastian had lost his pinkish glow and was slowly turning blue.
‘He had lost all color and was limp. Completely limp! It was frightening.’
She took the car seat out and placed in on the ground by the side of the vehicle whilst she began to perform CPR on the child, realising how delicate her motions would have to be given how very young the baby was.
‘I don’t know how I remembered what to do. I just knew I couldn’t let him die! I began to shout for help,’ Ms Rauseo said. ‘I screamed for people to come over and help but not many people knew how to give CPR to a five-month-old.’
With traffic at a standstill, fellow drivers began to help. A police officer and two firefighters who were stuck in traffic rushed to her aid. Another driver, Lucila Godoy left her own son in the car to assist in CPR and comfort Rauseo.
By sheer coincidence, an award-winning photographer for the Miami Herald newspaper was passing by and captured a series of dramatic pictures showing the emergency crews saving the baby’s life. He said that he heard a woman screaming that the baby couldn’t breathe. Al Diaz placed a call 911 and a team of paramedics raced to the scene. Mr Diaz was able to capture some stunning images that capture the drama and tension of the entire scene that happened at the side of the eight-lane highway. Shortly after the call was made, police Officer Amauris Bastidas arrived, helping as Ms Rauseo twice got the baby breathing again.
‘He started breathing and crying. Then he started not breathing again,’ Bastidas said.
Just as the baby started to catch his breath, more help arrived after Anthony Trim and Alvaro Tonanez from Miami-Dade Fire Rescue heard the emergency call while stuck in traffic. The rescue workers were able to keep Sebastian breathing until paramedics arrived at which point the professionals were able to take over. Ms Rauseo knows just how incredibly lucky she was to have had strangers help save her nephews’ life. Baby Sebastian is now back in hospital where he is undergoing further tests. His mother, Paola Vargas, is a registered nurse and is desperate to understand how and why her son stopped breathing.
Sebastian was photographed later that day in his mother’s arms, smiling, the color having returned to his face. Ms Rauseo works is an interior designer and runs Round321, a company dedicated to designing innovative and unique pieces for parents and children. Her company crafted Sebastian’s nursery and regularly babysits bubbly boy when his mother is at work.
wow thank God for his life