NYPD officers deliver baby on Staten Island Expressway
STATEN ISLAND (WABC) -- The NYPD spotted a speeding car on Staten Island and pulled it over, only to find a woman inside of the vehicle in labor.
The baby wouldn't wait, so an NYPD Highway officer Adam May started to help the woman, and was then joined by Sergeant Anthony Demonte.
"I think God was looking down because we have a former EMT and a former paramedic in the cop and the sergeant," Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said.
Officer May was an EMT before joining the NYPD eight years ago, and Sgt. Demonte was a paramedic before joining the department 20 years ago.
The whole incident happened just before midnight Thursday on the Staten Island Expressway at Richmond Road.
Officer May saw that the 32-year-old woman was in labor and radioed for an ambulance to respond but was told that there would be a delay due to the high volume of calls that night.
The officer and sergeant decided that there was no time to wait and jumped into action.
Officer May drove the family's Toyota Camry to Staten Island University North Hospital while the sergeant provided an escort.
Together, the officer and sergeant were able help to safely deliver the baby boy in the car and then drive to the hospital, with one hand on the wheel, the other hand pinching on the umbilical cord.
Other NYPD officers cleared the route for the family and officers and they were met at the hospital with doctors and nurses cheering.
"Cheering to have something good, in this time they are dealing with a lot," Shea said. "So keep your head up, keep positive, in every dark day there is always light. Focus on the light, we are going to get through this."
Both the officer and sergeant said it was the best traffic stop either of them had in a very long time.
Baby Matthew, his mother and father, are all doing well.
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