Dallas ISD bus driver hailed as ‘hero’ after saving choking 7-year-old

Dallas ISD bus driver saves choking 7-year-old

A Dallas ISD bus driver put her training into action and saved the life of a student. Now, Raquel Radford Baker is being called a hero.

DALLAS - A Dallas ISD bus driver put her training into action and saved the life of a student. Now, she is being called a hero.

On the morning of Sept. 29, Raquel Radford Baker was sitting in the driver's seat outside Seagoville North Elementary when she noticed a 7-year-old student staggering toward her.

"All I could think of, I got to save this baby. I have to save him," she said through tears.

The emotions are still close to the surface for Radford Baker more than 3 weeks after her heroic reaction.

The school bus surveillance view shows the 7-year-old student putting something into his mouth.

Seconds later, the same boy is choking and approaches the driver.

Radford Baker said she first thought he was nauseous and was going to be sick.

"He mentioned something about a penny and I immediately, I said penny? I grabbed him ran down the steps with him. On my way to the sidewalk I was actually performing the Heimlich maneuver," she recalled.

Another angle of the incident shows Baker carrying the boy who is visibly limp in her arms.

"I was running with him and just pulling, doing the Heimlich maneuver, telling him to breathe, breathe. By the time we got to the sidewalk, he was blue in the face and he was limp. He wasn’t talking," Radford Baker said.

Baker had instructed a woman outside the school to call 911.

While her adrenaline was at its peak she continued to perform the Heimlich maneuver.

The life-saving measure is not only part of her bus driver training with DISD, but also from her years of experience as a Dallas County Sheriff's employee. She is also a military veteran.

"The lady said, ‘Ma’am, there’s a quarter there,’ and I’m still in shock because I am still trying to work with him. He stepped to the side and he said, ‘Ms. Rocky, I’m okay. I can breathe.’ It was a powerful relief for me because I couldn’t believe I just reversed this whole thing. That could have really went wrong you know and I’m just grateful," Radford Baker said.

Before first responders arrived the 7-year-old boy was again safe and well.

As it turns out, Radford Baker was actually filling in for another driver on that day.

"I feel like God placed me there for a reason. If I wasn’t there I don’t know what the other driver may have done, I mean I don’t know. I was nervous at the time, I was, I just couldn’t panic. All I said was God help me. Help me save this baby. That’s all I knew," she said.

Radford Baker is a mother with a son who is close to the same age as the boy.

"It's really close to home to me," she said.

Radford Baker was honored on Friday in a celebration.

The district gave her a cape because they say she is a hero.