Drivers stuck in traffic on a Florida highway came to the assistance of a 5-month-old unconscious baby Thursday when his aunt ran from her car, yelling for help, the Miami Herald reports.
Pamela Rauseo, 37, was taking care of her nephew, Sebastian de la Cruz, when he started turning blue. Frantic about the health of the baby in her care, she did whatever she could to help her sister’s baby.
She was going westbound on Florida State Road 836 when she tried to get help.
One driver, Lucila Godoy, 34, of Miami, assisted Rauseo in trying to revive the baby, who had a history of respiratory issues from being born premature. Godoy started CPR.
In the car behind Rauseo was Miami Herald photographer Al Diaz.
“A woman pops out of the car and starts screaming ‘My baby can’t breathe, my baby can’t breath. Call 911!’ So I got out of my car and ran over to help her,” Diaz told CBS4’s Lauren Pastrana.
Diaz jogged through traffic and spotted Sweetwater police officer Amauris Bastidas.
Running to the scene, Bastidas helped Rauseo with CPR by pumping the baby’s chest.
“I lifted him up in the air and moved him up and down,” Bastidas said to the Miami Herald. “He started breathing and crying.”
Two Miami Dade Fire Rescue officers from the hazardous materials unit, Capt. Anthony Trim and Lt. Alvaro Tonanez were nearby and heard the emergency call on the radio.
By the time they arrived at the scene, the baby was still breathing, but barely. Tonanez checked to make sure the baby’s airway was open, and the Miami Fire Rescue arrived and rushed the baby to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Pediatric Unit.
“Baby Sebastian remains in critical but stable condition,” a Florida hospital spokeswoman told the Los Angeles Times Friday morning.