ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – After 11 years on the job, 40-year-old Deputy Sebastian Diana died last weekend in the line of duty.
But Diana did not lose his life the way most people might think. He was responding to a 911 call, trying to save a baby’s life by performing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
The 3-month-old child didn’t make it and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said Diana contracted a bacterial infection. He was sick off and on for the last few years until this past weekend when his heart stopped.
Doctors say bacterial infections can set up and harm the heart valves.
“Especially if we’re talking left-side valves, the aortic and mitral valves, we can see these patients set up with heart failure,” Waldman said.
Since Diana died in the line of duty, his wife will receive a portion of his pay and benefits for life and the state will cover costs of college for his four children.
Diana’s death is the second to hit the Orange County Sheriff’s Office this week. Another deputy, Michael Erickson, collapsed and died while off-duty at a YMCA on Wednesday.
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