An East Tennessee nurse became a hero after saving the life of a pregnant woman and her baby during a church Christmas show.
Rachel Cunningham was directing a children’s Christmas play when she suddenly collapsed while pregnant.
"I could tell pretty quickly that she wasn’t breathing normally, her color was bad, her lips were starting to get really pale and cyanotic so I made a decision to go ahead and start CPR just to make sure that oxygenated blood was still pumping everywhere that it needed to go," said Carrie Kiersmowski, the registered nurse.
Rachel was rushed to the hospital where family members were advised that she and her baby may not make it.
"She flipped her over and started doing compressions and she finally took a big gasp of air which made everybody a little bit relieved," said Pastor Jackie Flanary.
After an emergency C-section and several days at the hospital, Rachel and her baby made it out healthy and safe, but not without a scare.
What could have been a somber Christmas for this family, turned into a Christmas blessing.
"To wake up and be missing three days of your life and in that was a major life event of having a child, that is a very scary thing but now that I’ve had time and wrapped my mind around this whole situation I am more than anything thankful," said Rachel Cunningham, mother of the baby. "He is just my little miracle baby and I love him so much."
The family decided to name the baby Tobias which translates to "God is good."