Friends were driving when they spotted pregnant woman ‘feeling sick’ — their astute action saved two lives
Complete strangers often turn into saviors to help people get out of scary situations. A group of three strangers did just that for a pregnant woman when they helped her deliver her baby at a gas station parking lot with the help of a 911 dispatcher. A man, Michael Flores, noticed that a woman was walking on the road early in the morning and was looking quite sick. He picked her up and started driving her to the hospital before the incident happened, per KUTV 2 News.
Flores noticed the woman and stopped his car. "I pulled over and asked, 'Are you okay?' And she said, 'No, I’m sick,'" he recounted. The man was driving the pregnant woman to the hospital while his friend, Maurio Quire, was driving behind them. Quire didn't know what was going on at that time. "All of a sudden, he goes faster and faster." The woman had gone into labor and Flores was in a hurry to get her medical help as soon as possible. But as the baby was about to be born soon, the man had to turn into the first establishment he saw open at around 3 AM, a Maverik gas station on Redwood Road, Salt Lake City. He stopped and ran inside for help.
"I get out of the car and go see what's going on and I look in there and she's ready to have a baby," Quire shared. While Flores screamed inside the store, "There's a stranger in my truck and she's having a baby." A woman named Mary McKenzie was working at the store on her day off when Flores ran inside. "My coworkers were saying, 'You have the most experience, Mary, you have kids.' Yes, I've had kids, but I never delivered any kids," McKenzie pointed out. No one at the place had any idea about what to do in such a situation. So they ended up calling 911 to help them through the situation. A dispatcher, Joyce Jones, picked up the call and walked the group through the process.
"Just stay on the line and I’ll tell you exactly what to do next." Jones explained, "It was kind of calm in the beginning, but then as soon as we got to the mom and everybody started helping, it got a little challenging to control the call." Firefighters and paramedics were on their way to the location, but there was no time to wait for them. McKenzie put on gloves and got ready to help the woman, along with the two men and Jones. The woman was encouraged to push. "A few seconds later, out popped a little baby boy in my arms," McKenzie recalled. She reassured the woman and informed Jones that the baby was crying. The cord was wrapped around his neck, but she was able to unwrap it safely.
McKenzie wrapped the baby in a napkin as the paramedics arrived and started helping the mom and the baby. "As soon as I said it was a boy, I could hear clapping around me," Jones shared. "It was pretty cool to be a part of this and bring that little baby into this world," Flores went on. "It was very good to see the life come in and be okay," Quire added. "It was pretty amazing and something I’ve never done and I don't think anybody else has delivered a baby in the Maverik parking lot," McKenzie expressed. The mom and the baby were both doing okay. Maverik released a statement saying that they were proud of McKenzie and donated $5,000 to the First Responders Foundation.