At only three weeks old and around 7 pounds, baby Juliette Francine is being hailed a hero.
“She was born a month early. It was like ‘I got to get out of here so I can save my daddy,’” said her father, Jonathan Cedillo.
Cedillo nearly died just days after she was born. But a series of events — Juliette coming early and her release from Riverside Community Hospital being delayed — put Jonathan in the right place at the right time.
Cedillo thought the shooting pain in his shoulder was from a previous wrestling accident. As it turns out, he was having a heart attack.
“If I had not been in the hospital at that particular moment and they caught it, I would’ve just shrugged it off as just more pain from my shoulder injury,” he said.
“He probably would’ve passed away the house, possibly by himself or even later that night,” added Juliette’s mother, Vanessa Sandoval.
“It was very scary, and then to be told that he’s in the ER and he’s having heart attacks and he has been having heart attacks [due to a] 100% blockage, it’s a good thing he was at the hospital when he was having his major heart attack,” Sandoval added.
Cedillo said he’s thankful for his life, and he credits his newborn daughter.
“She saved me, and I will be her sentinel and guardian as long as I can,” Cedillo said.
