Current:Home > NewsFlight Attendant Helps Deliver Baby the Size of Her Hand in Airplane Bathroom -TradeCircle
Flight Attendant Helps Deliver Baby the Size of Her Hand in Airplane Bathroom
View
Date:2025-04-27 14:30:06
One Florida mom is thinking back to one of the most stressful moments of her life.
Shakeria Sullivan was seven months pregnant while on a Frontier Airlines flight from Denver to Orlando on January 16, 2022 to be closer to her mother. However, the trip took a turn for the now 29-year-old when she started to experience contractions.
"I had to call for the flight attendant," she told People in an interview published July 17. "And that's when everything started happening so fast."
Luckily for Shakeria, she found herself in the very capable hands of lead flight attendant Diana Giraldo, who was suddenly thrust into the position of helping deliver the baby after no one else on the flight was qualified to assist.
Diana told the outlet she "tried to stay very focused and present in the moment, to make sure I was giving her my best." The two moved to the bathroom at the back of the airplane, and, as Diana recalled, Shakeria gave birth to a baby girl "relatively fast."
"Shakeria and I looked at each other, astonished that this just happened," she continued. "I was like, 'Congratulations, you're a mom!'"
However, they soon realized the baby wasn't breathing, so Diana quickly started to perform CPR on the newborn and put an oxygen mask on her face.
"The baby was tiny," the 36-year-old remembered. "She fit in the palm of my hand."
During the scary delivery, the flight attendant was so impressed by Shakeria, noting that the new mom "was incredibly brave."
Luckily for the duo, the plane was able to make an emergency landing at the Pensacola International Airport in Florida, where they were met by medical crews who transported the mother and daughter to a nearby hospital.
And most importantly, Shakeria and Diana's once in a lifetime story has a happy ending, as Shakeria's daughter Jadalyne Sky is now 2 years old and quite the active toddler.
"She is very, very smart," her mom added. "She loves to be outdoors."
And Diana keeps up with the family, sending Jadalyne presents for her birthday and Christmas.
"From what her mom says, she's a little troublemaker," she noted. "She's a firecracker."
For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News AppveryGood! (9443)
Related
- Could Bill Belichick, Robert Kraft reunite? Maybe in Pro Football Hall of Fame's 2026 class
- What's driving the battery fires with e-bikes and scooters?
- Jimmy Buffett Hospitalized for Issues That Needed Immediate Attention
- A new flu is spilling over from cows to people in the U.S. How worried should we be?
- 'Kraven the Hunter' spoilers! Let's dig into that twisty ending, supervillain reveal
- Climate Change Fingerprints Were All Over Europe’s Latest Heat Wave, Study Finds
- Judge Orders Dakota Access Pipeline Review, Citing Environmental Justice
- Commonsense initiative aims to reduce maternal mortality among Black women
- At site of suspected mass killings, Syrians recall horrors, hope for answers
- The simple intervention that may keep Black moms healthier
Ranking
- The 401(k) millionaires club keeps growing. We'll tell you how to join.
- A new Arkansas law allows an anti-abortion monument at the state Capitol
- COP’s Postponement Until 2021 Gives World Leaders Time to Respond to U.S. Election
- Can a president pardon himself?
- 'Vanderpump Rules' star DJ James Kennedy arrested on domestic violence charges
- University of Louisiana at Lafayette Water-Skier Micky Geller Dead at 18
- Q&A: 50 Years Ago, a Young Mother’s Book Helped Start an Environmental Revolution
- Becky Sauerbrunn, U.S. Women's National Team captain, to miss World Cup with injury
Recommendation
Angelina Jolie nearly fainted making Maria Callas movie: 'My body wasn’t strong enough'
Journalists: Apply Now for ICN’s Southeast Environmental Reporting Workshop
Dakota Pipeline Builder Rebuffed by Feds in Bid to Restart Work on Troubled Ohio Gas Project
The U.S. has a high rate of preterm births, and abortion bans could make that worse
Why Sean "Diddy" Combs Is Being Given a Laptop in Jail Amid Witness Intimidation Fears
The simple intervention that may keep Black moms healthier
What is Babesiosis? A rare tick-borne disease is on the rise in the Northeast
Bob Huggins resigns as West Virginia men's basketball coach after DUI arrest in Pittsburgh