The mother of the baby who made national headlines when he was given CPR on the side of the Dolphin Expressway in Miami is speaking out for the first time.
Paola Vargas, the mother of 6-month-old Sebastian, says she was working in her job as a nurse at Jackson Memorial Hospital when her son fell ill while in a car with her sister, Pamela Rauseo.
Vargas said she had just called her sister to check on the baby but was told she couldn't talk because she was busy. Moments later, it was Rauseo calling her, telling her to hurry over to the emergency room.
"Automatically I knew something was wrong, when I walked in, there was many people, like six people on top of the baby, the baby was crying, my mother was in the corner crying," Vargas said Wednesday.
Vargas said when she heard her baby crying, she felt relief because that meant he was okay. She also said she's grateful her sister was there and had the presence of mind to perform CPR.
"If it wasn't for CPR, he wouldn't be here today because nobody else who came to the scene knew CPR and the only one was my sister and that saved his life," Vargas said.
After Rauseo performed CPR, officers arrived and baby Sebastian was taken to the hospital.
"I don't think I was breathing until I saw him breathing," Rauseo said.
Sebastian is now home with his mother, who credits her sister for keeping him alive.
"She's our hero right now, she's our angel from God," Vargas said. "If it wasn't for her putting her CPR cap on, we would have never had our baby right here."
