'She Fit in the Palm of My Hand' (Exclu...

Diana Giraldo was the lead flight attendant on a Frontier Airline red eye flight from Denver to Orlando on Jan

Published Time: 18.07.2024 - 01:31:04 Modified Time: 18.07.2024 - 01:31:04

Diana Giraldo was the lead flight attendant on a Frontier Airline red eye flight from Denver to Orlando on Jan. 16, 2022, when a female passenger called for assistance. The passenger, Shakeria Sullivan, then 27 and 7 months pregnant, was worried that she might be going into labor.

“I was having contractions and it woke me out of my sleep,” Sullivan tells PEOPLE. “I had to call for the flight attendant. And that’s when everything started happening so fast.”

The expectant mother was traveling alone and was in the process of moving to Orlando to be closer to her mom.

“She was worried that it was too early to deliver the baby,” says Giraldo. “She told me that she was terrified.”

Giraldo, 36, thought back to her younger sister, who’s about the same age as Sullivan, and “tried to stay very focused and present in the moment, to make sure I was giving her my best,” recalls the flight attendant.

Other flight attendants made several announcements asking passengers who were experienced medical personnel to step forward and help, yet no one responded.

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Because Sullivan’s seat was located in the middle of the airplane, Giraldo helped her move to the back of the plane where there was more space and privacy.

“The next thing you know, I am in the bathroom at the back of the plane and I’m giving birth,” says Sullivan. A baby girl quickly emerged and Giraldo caught her. “It was relatively fast,” adds Giraldo.

“Shakeria and I looked at each other, astonished that this just happened,” recalls the flight attendant. “I was like, ‘Congratulations, you’re a mom!’ ”

Afraid the cold of the airplane cabin would be too much of a shock for the newborn, Giraldo wrapped the baby in her jacket. But then, “after a few second -

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s,” she says they “started realizing the baby wasn’t breathing.”

With Sullivan too weak to walk, Giraldo shuffled backwards from the restroom to the galley, with the weight of Martin on her back. “As soon as she laid down,” says Giraldo. “I started doing first aid on the baby. I told Shakeria to put the oxygen over the baby’s mouth.”

“The baby was tiny,” she says. “She fit in the palm of my hand.”

The uncertainty of the situation was too much for the new mom to bear. “She was really stressed out,” says Giraldo. “To be in the position where you’re not sure whether or not your baby’s going to survive or not. I can’t imagine as a parent how that must feel.”

“She was incredibly brave,” says Giraldo.

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Fortunately, 40 minutes after giving birth, the plane made an emergency landing at Pensacola International Airport and was met by a team of medical personnel who brought the mother and child to the hospital.

“I am so relieved that everything worked out the way it did and that I had a good team of people by my side,” says Sullivan, now 29. “They did whatever they could to make me feel comfortable.”

Now, two and half years later, Sullivan's daughter is an active toddler named Jadalyne Sky who’s giving her mom a run for her money. “She’s doing great,” says her mom. “She has a very unique personality. I always says it’s like a grown up inside a little human being.”

“She is very, very smart,” gushes her mom, who also has three other children, 11, 9 and 4. “And she loves to be outdoors.”

“From what her mom says, she’s a little troublemaker,” says Giraldo, who sends the girl gifts for her birthday and Christmas. “She’s a firecracker.”