Heather Montgomery was completely shocked when her precious unborn baby, Ezekiel, decided to make an early entrance into this world. At first, she dismissed early contractions as some very early Braxton Hicks warnings. Then, as the contractions started happening rapidly, it became clear this wasn’t a false alarm. Her fiancé frantically called 9-1-1 for help.
She nervously waited at home for medical attention to arrive, and panic started to set in. “[My] water just broke where are they? They need to get here, he is coming,” she said.
Minutes later, firefighters showed up at her parent’s door ready to assist.
Springfield firefighter Mark Vanderwerf said, “I started to see the baby crown and once he crowned it was no time at all, probably 5-10 seconds top and we had a baby.” But right after the delivery, Ezekiel stopped breathing and firefighters jumped in to save his life.
“[It was] a big sigh of relief that we were able to transfer care to labor and delivery and we got to see him have a positive response and positive outcome.”
“So it’s been a breath of fresh air to come see him here as well,” Vanderwerf said about visiting baby Ezekiel in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the local hospital post-delivery.
Montgomery is grateful for the firefighters that helped her deliver.
“Who knows…if they didn’t show up on time what would have happened.”
“I [feel] very happy, and grateful, and thankful they came.”
Ezekeil is now out of NICU, and to celebrate firefighters pitched in to bring him a firefighter’s hat, a new blanket and some diapers.
According to March of Dimes, 15 million babies are born prematurely every year around the world. Of those, approximately one million will die.
If you are interested in learning more about volunteer opportunities and donating to March of Dimes, click here.
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(H/T: News Channel 20)
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