Five-month-old Sebastian stopped breathing while in his aunt’s car during a traffic jam on the freeway and became unconscious. As Pamela Rauseo pulled over and screamed for someone to help her nephew, Sebastian, people came running to her aid — including a police officer and two firefighters.
Sebastian, who suffers from respiratory problems after being born prematurely, had started to turn blue as Ms Rauseo drove along a highway at 2.30pm. She quickly pulled over and lifted him from the car, screaming for help.
As it happened, award-winning photojournalist Al Diaz was also in the traffic jam and as people came to help little Sebastian, he snapped some amazing photos — including one of Rauseo performing CPR on the five-month-old attempting to literally breathe life into the baby.
The photographer then took a series of dramatic pictures showing fellow motorists and emergency workers who were on their way to work rushing to save the baby. Sebastian is now in stable condition at a local hospital.
The Miami Herald has the rest of this touching story:
Rauseo said she was in a panic, thinking she could not let anything happen to the baby while in her care.
“My sister had trusted me with him,” she told reporters.
Drivers stuck in 836 traffic just east of 57th Avenue swung into action.
Lucila Godoy, 34, of Miami left her 3-year-old son in her car to help Rauseo revive the unconscious infant, who she said was born prematurely and had respiratory issues.
Miami Herald photographer Al Diaz, stopped right behind Rauseo, jumped out of his car.
“I heard screaming,” he said. He saw a woman pop out of the car in front of him “screaming that the baby can’t breathe.”
Diaz quickly jogged through traffic lanes to summon more help. He found Sweetwater police officer Amauris Bastidas, who ran to the scene and took over CPR for Godoy, performing chest pumps while Rauseo breathed into the baby’s mouth.
“I lifted him up in the air and moved him up and down,” Bastidas said. “He started breathing and crying.”
Then the baby stopped breathing again. The trio frantically started CPR again and got the baby breathing.
