Superhuman strength: What this aunty did for her baby nephew was nothing short of amazing.

When motorists on the busy Dolphin Expressway in Miami heard screams, some thought the horrific noise was coming from their car radios. What they saw next made their stomachs drop.

Imagine you are driving down the highway, playing mother for the day to someone else’s kid. Your sister’s. You are happily humming to yourself, watching the traffic go past and thinking about what you’re going to cook that cute little bubba for dinner.

You slowly realise that it’s awfully quiet, too quiet, as they say in the westerns. You glance in the rear view mirror and see your sister’s beautiful little boy. He is silent. He is blue. He is not breathing…..

Motorists on the Dolphin Expressway in Miami were left in shock last week after witnessing the aftermath of this exact scenario. What did they see? An aunty, blocking traffic, while trying to save her baby nephew’s life on the busy roadside.

Pamela Rauseo, 37, was driving along the road at 2.30pm on Thursday afternoon when she glanced back at five-month-old nephew Sebastian de la Cruz in the back seat. He wasn’t breathing.

Pamela quickly pulled over, partially blocking traffic in lane one. Motorists who were wondering why traffic had suddenly come to a standstill then heard bloodcurdling screams. They witnessed Pamela carrying the baby boy to the side of the road, screaming for help. She gently lay him on the roadside and began performing CPR.

As she desperately tried to revive him all she could think of was that she couldn't let anything happen to her nephew while he was in her care. “My sister had trusted me with him,” she told The Miami Herald.

It was then that some of the other drives sprang into action. Lucilia Godoy, 34, left her three-year-old son in the car to help Pamela revive Sebastian.

Photographer for The Miami Herald, Al Diaz, was one of the motorists caught in traffic. “I heard screaming,” he said. He then saw Pamela jump out of the car in front of him “screaming that the baby can’t breathe.” He got out of his car and started jogging through traffic to find more help. He located Sweetwater police officer Amauris Rastidas who ran to the frightening scene to help with CRP, performing chest pumps while his aunty breathed into the baby's mouth.

"I lifted him up in the air and moved him up and down,” Bastidas said. “He started breathing and crying.”

Then he stopped breathing again.

Sebastian's aunty recommenced CPR and managed to revive the little boy once again.

Soon, more help arrived. Captain Anthony Trim and Lieutenant Alvaro Tonanez from Miami Fire Rescue had been in their cars when they heard of the unfolding emergency on their radio. They ran to the scene and found the baby barely breathing.

His panicked aunty handed Sebastian to the lieutenant. The lieutenant did a quick check to make sure the baby's airway was open while Pamela sobbed.  Minutes later Miami Fire Rescue arrived and rushed him to Jackson Memorial Hospital Pediatrics unit where he was listed in a stable condition later that evening and is now well on the way to recovery.

His aunty later explained that baby Sebastian had been born prematurely and had suffered respiratory issues since birth. They had been returning from a trip to the doctor when he started to cry in the car, before falling terrifyingly silent.

There is no question that Sebastian's aunt saved his life. The story feels like something out of a movie but reveals that in the darkest of times, a loving instinct kicks in that allows human beings to do the most extraordinary things. The bond between an aunt and her nieces and nephews is a special one.

Do you know of an amazing aunty? Share this post with them or social media or leave them some love in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Miami Herald via Fox News and NBC 6

These photos show the crucial moments during which the drama unfolded: