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10-year-old boy delivers his baby brother and saves his life

Jayden Fontenot not only helped his mom deliver his baby brother, his swift actions saved the boy's life when the infant wasn't breathing.
/ Source: TODAY

Once his little brother, Daxx, is old enough to understand, Jayden Fontenot, 10, will have an amazing story to tell him about saving his life on the day he was born.

Fontenot not only helped his mother, Ashly Moreau, deliver his baby brother on the bathroom floor of the family's home in Sulphur, Louisiana, his swift actions to grab a nasal aspirator saved the boy's life when the infant initially wasn't breathing.

Louisiana boy who delivered his prematurely born baby brother and saved his life (he was in breech position and wasn't breathing when he was first born)
Jayden Fontenot, 10, helped save the life of his baby brother, Daxx, and his mother, Ashly Moreau, when she prematurely went into labor and started bleeding profusely. Ashly Moreau

"I said to Jayden, 'You'll always have a special bond with your brother,''' Moreau told TODAY. "I'm just so proud of him. He saved our lives."

Making the story, which was first reported by NBC affiliate KPLC, even more remarkable was the fact that Moreau was also bleeding profusely during the birth, and the baby was initially in the breech position.

The 36-year-old had gotten up to go to the bathroom on the morning of Aug. 11 when her water broke well ahead of the baby's due date of Sept. 20.

Louisiana boy who delivered his prematurely born baby brother and saved his life (he was in breech position and wasn't breathing when he was first born)
Moreau's fiance, Kelsey Richard, was incredulous when he rushed to the hospital from work and found out how Jayden helped save Moreau and their newborn baby. Ashly Moreau

She was then incredulous as she looked down and saw the baby's feet sticking out of her, which meant the boy was in the breech position that increases the risk of complications.

Her fiance, Kelsey Richard, had already left for his job as a mechanical engineer, so Moreau called for Jayden and sent him next door to get his grandmother, Francis Soileau. However, Soileau had just undergone back surgery and wasn't able to walk, so she called 911 as Jayden sprinted back to help his mother.

"I said (to Jayden), 'You're going to have to deliver your brother, and we have to do it fast because the baby's feet are turning blue and he can't breathe,'' Moreau said. "He said, 'Tell me what I need to do and I'll do it.'''

Louisiana boy who delivered his prematurely born baby brother and saved his life (he was in breech position and wasn't breathing when he was first born)
Jayden rushed to grab a nasal aspirator that was normally used by his 11-month-old sister, Remi (above), to help save Daxx's life. Ashly Moreau

Moreau was also bleeding profusely from what doctors later told her was most likely her placenta detaching from the wall of her uterus because of the premature birth.

"I was crying, but I just tried to stay calm and collected,'' she said. "Jayden was so calm that it made me more calm. I could see he was scared, but he knew he had to do it."

Jayden helped move Daxx out of the breech position by gently rotating him when his mother instructed him.

When they finally got him out properly, Daxx wasn't breathing. Jayden rushed into the kitchen to fetch a nasal aspirator that Moreau uses on her 11-month-old daughter, Remi, and came back to help Moreau start pumping air into Daxx's nose and mouth.

The baby began breathing just about the time that emergency medical technicians arrived with an ambulance that took them to Lake Charles Memorial Hospital. Richard then joined them after rushing from work.

Daxx has been progressing well and is expected to come home from the hospital in another week.

In recognition of his heroism, Jayden will be honored at Maplewood Middle School on Monday by the mayor and first responders from Sulphur.

"Every time I think about it, I just cry,'' Moreau said. "I don't think Jayden understands what he's done and how big it is."

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