An off-duty nurse rushed to help save the life of a three-month-old baby that suddenly stopped breathing just 30 minutes into a Spirit Airlines flight from Pittsburgh to Orlando on Friday.
Spirit Airlines flight 1691 had just reached cruising altitude when Anjele became unresponsive. Flight attendants jumped into action, and so did off-duty nurse Tamara Panzino who immediately volunteered to help.
Ian Cassette, a meteorologist with FOX 35 was also onboard the plane and recorded the happy moment that Anjele’s parents were able to hold their baby girl again after she had been revived.
“On my flight back from Pittsburgh to Orlando, a baby stopped breathing three rows ahead of me,” Cassette wrote on Twitter. “Thankfully a nurse (Tamara Panzino) was able to get the baby to breathe again.”
“The parents of three month old Anjelé were terrified and had never experienced this before. They praised the positive energy of the plane and the heroic actions of Tamara for saving her,” Cassette continued.
The long-serving nurse told FOX 35 that she started massaging the baby’s chest and legs and a few moments later, the baby started to breathe normally again.
“When you have to step forward and do what’s right, you do it. It was just a happy story, and it made me feel really good,” Panzino said.
In a statement, Spirit Airlines said it was still gathering the full facts of what happened on flight 1691 but a spokesperson noted that flight attendants “are trained to respond to medical emergencies onboard and utilize several resources, including communicating with our designated on-call medical professionals on the ground, using onboard medical kits, and receiving assistance from credentialed medical professionals traveling on the flight.”
Cassette says the pilots asked whether an emergency diversion was necessary, but the flight was able to carry on as planned after receiving reassurances from the nurse and crew.
