Nurse saves baby who stopped breathing onboard Spirit Airlines flight 

A nurse onboard a Spirit Airlines flight to Orlando, Florida is being called a hero after she helped save the life of a newborn baby. 

During the flight from Pittsburgh to Orlando, 3-month-old Angelé stopped breathing and her lips went purple, causing her parents to panic. 

However, the situation quickly de-escalated after the heroic actions of Tamara Panzino, a nurse onboard the flight, who helped save the newborn. 

“I was reading my book, not paying attention, and had my earbuds in. And I heard a flight attendant say, ‘we have an infant not breathing,’” Panzino said.

“Is there a doctor onboard?” asked the flight attendant. At that point, Panzino got up and rushed to the infant.

“I had no idea whether the baby was choking, if the airway was clear,” Panzino said. “I did not know what I was dealing with. Saw an infant. The head was back. Blue lips and her skin turning blue. Clearly in distress. Not breathing. And my heart just dropped.”

The aftermath of Panzino’s actions was recorded and shared online by Ian Cassette, a meteorologist for Fox35 in Orlando who was sitting three rows behind the baby and her parents. 

The video, posted on Twitter, shows the baby smiling as her father holds her, while the passengers on board cheer about the happy outcome. ‘

On my flight back from Pittsburgh to Orlando, a baby stopped breathing three rows ahead of me. Thankfully a nurse (Tamara Panzino) was able to get the baby to breathe again. (1) pic.twitter.com/6oDgFCG7FS

— Ian Cassette FOX 35 (@iancassette_wx) September 9, 2022

“The parents of three-month-old Angelé were terrified and had never experienced this before,” he wrote. “They praised the positive energy of the plane and the heroic actions of Tamara for saving her.”

In follow-up tweets, Cassette said that the flight attendants “should be commended” for their quick reaction to the incident. 

“I’ve never felt that much nervous energy before,” he said. “The second we saw those helping Angelé start to smile we all breathed a sigh of relief.”

An emergency crew was waiting for the family when the plane landed in Florida to treat the infant. It is unknown what caused the baby to stop breathing.

“It’s not a hero thing. It’s a community coming together and everyone volunteering to help with what their knowledge can do. I’m glad I was there,” Panzino said about the incident.