Queens mother reunited with EMTs who saved her newborn girl
When Lori Traore came home from running errands one day last summer and wasn't feeling well, the last thing the Queens woman thought was that she was pregnant and about to have a baby.
Doctors had told her and her husband that she could not conceive, but that did not stop her from suddenly giving birth in the shower to a baby girl before help could arrive.
But before she could unravel the mystery behind the miracle birth, Traore had a problem — the baby girl wasn't breathing. Luckily, the FDNY response team regained the girl's pulse and got her breathing again before rushing the baby and her mother to the hospital.
'If it wasn't for them, my daughter wouldn't be here, which means I wouldn't be a mom,' Traore said Wednesday, nearly nine months after little Ellen was born. 'I'd be planning a funeral.'
Traore got to thank her heroes again Wednesday at the FDNY's Second Chance Ceremony, an annual event that reunites patients with the paramedics, EMTs and firefighters who saved them.
Traore said she came home from running errands on Aug. 29, 2024, and told her husband she wasn't feeling well.
'I did not know I was pregnant,' she said. 'When I came home from doing some food shopping earlier in the day, I didn't feel very well. Later on at night, before my husband went to work, I said I wasn't feeling good. He told me to take a shower and just to lay down.
'Next thing I know, I'm in the shower and I'm about to push, and my daughter arrived,' she said. 'Ten fingers, 10 toes and I just freaked out a little bit. I dialed 911, I turned off the water, I put a blanket around her, I put a towel around me and the rest is history.'
Traore said she didn't know what to think.
'At the time, she was not supposed to be possible,' she said. 'I was told I cannot conceive and she is not supposed to be here. I'm very thankful. I'm very happy that she's alive and living because of the gentlemen behind me.'
The gentlemen she referred to are members of the Queens Tactical Response Group and paramedics from New York-Presbyterian Hospital.
'I just remember time was of the essence,' said EMT Lt. Jimmy Guailacela. 'We had to get the baby to the hospital as soon as possible.'
He said firefighters were performing CPR on the child inside an ambulance when he arrived.
'At that point I knew it was very critical,' he said.
Guailacela recalled the moment he found out the baby had been resuscitated.
'I remember them telling me the baby cried, which basically shows signs of life, which was a great outcome,' he said. 'As a father myself, it's a miracle. We gave this little soul a chance at life. I have a child, too. To see her and how she's thriving is a beautiful, wonderful thing,' he said of little Ellen.
The happy reunion took place during what is being celebrated as National EMS Week.
'Our EMTs and paramedics really feel the warmth of this week, the importance of this week, the way they feel the importance of the job they do every day,' said FDNY Commissioner Robert Tucker. 'Today is a perfect example of a few of the saves that we have, but this is not a limited group.'
Among those saved was Chance Young, who was 11 years old on Sept. 30, 2024, when he went to his school's nurse's office after feeling unwell.
The nurse was taking his vitals when he collapsed.
The nurse immediately began performing CPR until firefighters with FDNY Engine 59 arrived and delivered four shocks with the school's defibrillator.
Paramedics from Station 14 and Northwell Lenox Hill arrived later and placed a breathing tube in his mouth and delivered another three shocks.
Chance arrived at the hospital with a pulse and made a full recovery.
'We're saving lives every day out there,' Tucker said. 'It's the men and women of EMS that are doing that.'
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