SAN DIEGO — A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer finally met the child he helped to deliver at a busy border crossing six years ago.
On Dec. 8, 2016, Officer J. Lott was working at the San Ysidro Port of Entry when he received a call that a woman was in distress in one of the many cars waiting to cross into the United States from Mexico just south of San Diego.
Lott, a trained EMT, grabbed his medical bag and responded to the call. He arrived at a car where a woman was in labor.
“I just trusted my training. I knew if I remained calm, the mother, the father and everyone around me would stay calm, although deep down inside I did not want to fail them.” Lott recalled, according to the CPB news release.
To add to the stress, when the baby came, it was born breech, a situation that can make delivery challenging and dangerous.
Lott and the mother successfully delivered a baby girl, Alexa Garcia, but she was turning blue and not breathing. Using his training, he began CPR and eventually, the newborn started to cry.
“She was really blue, she wasn’t breathing, and unresponsive,” Lott said. “I quickly administered chest compressions, and after about five or six, she started crying. I was already on my knees, and I just buckled. I remember saying to myself, just keep on breathing, baby, just keep on breathing, please.”
Six years later, CBP officials and the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana coordinated the first meeting between the officer and the little girl.
Two months shy of Alexa’s 6th birthday, Lott and his wife finally met the little girl he delivered that December morning at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.
“The room was quiet, absent was the usual small talk a typical crowd generates. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room, as a healthy, joyful Alexa Garcia bounded in through the door with a huge smile. She walked directly to Lott and gave him a tight hug reminiscent of the strength, she had shown the first time they met,” according to the news release.
Alexa’s mother, father, sister and older brother were present as the two embraced. The family had been looking for Lott for a long time.
“The U.S. Consulate in Tijuana is grateful for the humanitarian and life-saving work of our CBP colleagues at the border,” said Public Affairs Officer, Kim Scrivner. “The Garcia family approached us after several years of trying to locate the officer that helped deliver their baby and save her life. After realizing they had the wrong name from that stressful encounter, we were able to connect the family and officer virtually, and with CBP, help arrange their reuniting.”
Read more about their reunion here.