Oh Baby! Police Assist In A Very Special Delivery
A quick-thinking Police officer has helped a couple get
to hospital for the
arrival of their first child, despite
gridlock traffic nearly forcing a
motorway
birth.
Constable Shaw was returning to Orewa Station
via the Northern Motorway
yesterday afternoon when he saw
a car pulled over in the emergency
stopping
lane.
Constable Shaw says he had just
finished his shift and was when he noticed
the car with
its hazards on.
“I went and spoke to the driver to make sure everything was ok,” he says.
“There was a woman in the backseat, clearly in labour.”
Traffic
was extremely heavy and Gaurav Patil and his wife, Shraddha
had
missed the turn off to the North Shore Birthing Unit;
both were
understandably distressed.
Constable Shaw
offered to escort them to the hospital but after a couple
of
kilometres he pulled over and told them to hop in his
patrol car,
transporting them to the birthing unit under
lights and siren.
“Traffic was ridiculous,” Constable Shaw says.
“I walked them up to the suite
and left. It was quite cool – a once in a
career
opportunity.
“Hopefully it made a difference to them
and meant she could deliver safely
– not on the side of
the motorway.”
Gaurav says his wife had gone into
labour at 4am on Thursday and by the time
they decided to
drive to the hospital, around 2pm, she was in a lot of
pain.
“It was very tense moment,” he says.
“I missed the exit for some reason and
unfortunately the motorway was just
jam-packed. I started
sweating and I called 111. The next minute Constable
Shaw
stopped for us.”
Gaurav and Shraddha welcomed their
beautiful baby boy, Aarav, at 7.30am on
Friday 26 May,
weighing a healthy 3.38kgs.
“I didn’t get much
time to thank him. I cannot express how relieved we
were
to see him.
“The way Constable Shaw helped us, it was just amazing.”