Woman says CPR training kicked in when she found her baby not breathing

Woman says CPR training kicked in when she found her baby not breathing

Angela Luneau says her 7-week-old baby suffered a heart attack

LANSING, Kan. —

A Lansing mother said she woke up at 4 a.m. to find her infant daughter had stopped breathing. Doctors said that what she did after that saved the baby's life.

"She was a perfectly healthy 7-week-old baby, nothing wrong with her and then she has a heart attack," said mother, Angela Luneau. "She was normally supposed to wake up and she didn't, so I guess my internal clock woke me up."

Angela Luneau found Everleigh gasping for air.

"Immediately I knew something wasn't right," she said.

Angela Luneau said she called 911, but before she could get help, she said that Everleigh stopped breathing.

"I started CPR on her," she said.

Dad jumped up and took over the phone while mom worked desperately to get her daughter breathing again.

"The operator told me to find a pulse. I couldn't find a pulse," Angela Luneau said.

"I was like yelling at the 911 dispatcher, I was like, 'Get her now. She's not breathing,'" said Landon Luneau.

"I don't even know how to describe the terror," Angela Luneau said.

It's what she did next that doctors say probably save the baby -- she remained calm.

"I just laid her on a flat surface, tilted her head back, gave her two breaths and watched the rise of her chest," Angela Luneau said.

While in the Army, Angela Luneau said she received CPR training.

"I panicked. I'm not going to lie to you. Don't really know what you're going to do unless you're put in that situation," Landon Luneau said.

Everleigh was brought to Children's Mercy Hospital, where doctors put in a pacemaker and she's doing OK now. The Luneaus said to stress the importance of knowing CPR and not just for adults and kids but for infants as well.

"If you don't know CPR or the basics, get training in it because it could happen to anyone," Angela Luneau said.

"It's better to be prepared for something and never use it than not be prepared," Landon Luneau said.

Everleigh is now 4 months old and gets regular checkups at Children's Mercy Hospital's heart center.