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Nursing assistant reacted quickly after baby was ejected from car

Tribune photo by JAY CONNER

The 4-month old was said to have been held by her mother in the car even though there was a child seat inside.

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By HOWARD ALTMAN | The Tampa Tribune
and JAY CONNER | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 5, 2009

Updated: 06/05/2009 10:07 pm

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Vincente Rodriguez

TAMPA - As a certified nursing assistant, Rhonda Oglesby had seen blood before. She is no stranger to people with injuries, those suffering from pain.

She had not, however, ever seen a baby ejected from a car in a collision, thrown onto the hot pavement at noontime on a June day. And, for a second, she didn't know what to do.

Then, suddenly, she did.

"When I seen the baby lying in the middle of the street,'' Oglesby said, "her head and mouth were bleeding, her eyes were rolled in the back of her head, she just was like going out. And then I did the sternum rub, was just talking to her, bringing her back and then I went and checked on the mom and everybody.''

Whether Oglesby's efforts, and those of the paramedics who arrived minutes later, were enough is still unknown. The child, 4-month-old Danaie Rodriguez-Hernandez, was taken to Tampa General Hospital, where she was listed in stable condition Saturday morning.

Police say the child's injuries were preventable. They say the parents had a car seat in the vehicle, but the baby wasn't in it. Instead, her mother, Maira Hernandez, was nursing the infant in the front passenger seat when Daniae's father ran a red light at Interstate 4 and Columbus Drive and collided with a garbage truck.

He was charged with a variety of traffic-related offenses, including not having a valid driver's license, negligent operation of a motor vehicle resulting in serious bodily injury and possession of fraudulent identification.

The accident happened about noon Friday as a Waste Management truck was exiting I-4 eastbound onto Columbus, said Tampa Fire Rescue spokesman Bill Wade. Witnesses said the truck had a green light and collided with the Nissan carrying Danaie, her parents and a 7-year-old sibling, Wade said.

The impact sent Danaie flying out of the car. She landed on the pavement in the middle of the road.
That's what Oglesby saw. She was a couple cars back and saw the wreck. She stopped immediately and ran to do what she could.

The child looked bad at first, she said, but she was heartened when it started to react.

"I just tried to bring her back, and when she did, I was telling her to cry, cry, cry, and praying for her, and thank God, God heard everything I was asking for.''

Police said the driver, Danaie's father, gave investigators the name of Vincente Rodriguez, but also provided a Mexican driver's license with a different name. Detectives are still working to determine if Vincente Rodriguez is his real name but say he is in the United States illegally.

In addition to the criminal charges, he was issued a moving violation for not securing Danaie properly in the vehicle.

Oglesby doesn't know the family or their history. She just hopes everything turns out OK.

"I just pray to God they all, you know, get better, come out of this positive, especially the baby, because the baby was on the concrete.''

Editor Howard Altman can be reached at (813) 259-7629.

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