Dallas Bus Driver Hailed A Hero After Saving Child's Life

"She's an angel."

A Dallas bus driver is being hailed as a hero after she saved a 7-year old student’s life when he was choking on a coin.

The harrowing incident was caught on surveillance video.

First grader Preston Bell was chatting with his bus mates and appearing to have a good time before he’s seen putting something into his mouth. Almost immediately he stands up and stumbles to the front of the bus in distress and taps his bus driver - Raquel Radford Baker - on the back to get her attention.

“He appeared to be sick as if he needed to throw up,” Baker told ABC’s Good Morning America.

Baker said she opened the door and told Bell to go ahead and get sick outside but when Bell - who she calls one of her “babies” - turned back around she said she could tell he was “in trouble with breathing.”

Acting quickly, Baker, who is CPR trained, grabbed Bell from behind and took him off the bus, performing the Heimlich maneuver.

The entire time, she said she was asking God to help her.

“He cannot die in my arms,” she said to herself. “I have to save his life.”

After multiple rounds of the Heimlich maneuver, Baker’s prayers were answered - a quarter Bell had swallowed popped out.

Baker said once she knew Bell was breathing again, she “hugged him tight.” Then she asked him to never put coins in his mouth again

Bell said he considers Baker his “hero because she saved my life.”

“She’s an angel,” he said.

Bell and his mom Gia Bell recently reunited with Baker to thank her and there were plenty of hugs and tears of gratitude.

"I was able to look at her in her eyes and thank her for saving my son's life," Gia Bell said.

Baker is a 17-year veteran of Dallas Independent School District Transportation Services. This is the first time she’s ever saved a student.

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