Hero Dallas ISD bus driver honored at Mav's home opener by Mark Cuban Heroes
DALLAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) - Raquel Radford-Baker, the Dallas ISD bus driver who saved the life of a choking student, was honored at the Dallas Maverick's home opener Friday.
On Sept. 29, Radford-Baker was filling in for another district bus driver and about to drop students off at Seagoville North Elementary School when 7-year-old Preston Bell began choking.
It was all caught on surveillance camera.
Video from inside the bus showed Preston putting something in his mouth. Moments later, he dropped down between the seats before heading toward his bus driver.
The first-grader was choking on a quarter.
Radford-Baker told CBS News Texas she grabbed him and ran down the bus steps. The veteran said she'd never performed the Heimlich before, but in that moment her training kicked in.
"On my way to the sidewalk, I was actually performing the Heimlich maneuver," Radford-Baker said. She alerted a nearby parent and told them to call 911. The quarter flew out of Preston's mouth. He was ok.
Preston and his grateful family joined Radford-Baker and her daughter at the Mavericks game, where Radford-Baker was honored by the Mark Cuban Heroes Basketball Center organization and celebrated as part of National First Responder's Day on Oct. 28
Both families got to participate in a meet-and-greet with the players before the game.
Radford-Baker said doesn't know where she got the courage to do what she did that September day, but she knows this: "I feel like God placed me there for a reason."