A US Airways flight from Tampa had to be diverted to Houston Tuesday after a medical emergency involving a baby.
Flight 678 left Tampa International Airport Tuesday afternoon en route to Phoenix. As the plane neared Houston, a baby on the flight stopped breathing and turned purple.
While Garret Goodwin, a former combat medic from Clearwater, helped the child on board, the pilots prepared to make an emergency landing.
“(The baby) wasn't right. He was blue as a Smurf. Losing his pulse is the last thing we wanted,” said Goodwin.
He grabbed the baby from his grandmother's arms, gave him CPR and yelled for a doctor.
"Actually stimulated his chest and did a few pumps,” he said. "Within about a minute and a half I got him breathing again, maintained his pulse and he got his color back."
When the baby started crying, passengers cheered.
Goodwin said the baby had a fever. He gave the baby oxygen until they landed in Houston, where ambulances were waiting.
The plane then left Houston and landed safely in Phoenix at about 9 p.m. PST.
Goodwin had a surprise reunion with the baby and his grandmother at the airport the next day. Goodwin said seeing the baby's smile made his day.
"I got to pick him up and hug him and he was playing with my face and smiling I was like man, this...this is great,” he said.