Woman dials 911 after her water breaks at home— ends up having a life-changing conversation with dispatcher
Handling a 911 call is no easy task. For Jonathan DuBois, a 911 dispatcher, his call of a pregnant woman, Keelin Shea, changed his life in many ways. She had frantically dialed him moments before she was about to have her baby, per Boston News. Shea and her husband, Nick McNally, were baffled after learning that their baby was due and DuBois guided them, resulting in a heartwarming and memorable exchange.
The duo were at home when Shea’s water broke and the couple had no time to drive an hour to their hospital. “I didn't think they were intense enough to warrant a hospital visit,” Shea noted, per NBC 10 Boston. However, when it was time, they had to deliver her at home. They called 911 and DuBois and his team stepped in to guide them through the birthing process. With the dispatcher’s help, they welcomed a baby girl in their bathroom at home. Referring to DuBois, McNally noted, “John ended up, you know, kind of being able to help keep me calm.”
“I try to treat all the calls I take as if it’s my brother, my sister, my family on the other end,” he noted. DuBois, who has a five-year-old of his own, recalled that when he learned the contractions were a minute apart, he knew he had to act fast. “At that point, it was just trying to get through the instructions to help them in case the child was born before responders got there,” the dispatcher explained. While things ended casually just the way they would during any other 911 call, this worker was particularly impacted by the experience. However, he didn’t reveal any of it until he met with the family.
The mom wanted to thank DuBois for being “a rock” at the time. “I’d love to meet him and shake his hand and just let him know how grateful we were for that,” the dad added. A month after the birth of Annalise McNally, DuBois was delighted to meet with her. It was then that the man noted that it was a one-of-a-kind call for him. “I might have seemed calm, but I was not. I was very excited for you guys…You guys have had a lasting impact on me. I’m not going to forget it,” he remarked. “It was just kind of nice to be able to walk through it and just to have a happy call because, unfortunately, people don't call 911 when they're having a good day,” the dispatcher added.
As the man and his team helped visit the baby for the first time, many sentiments were flowing. “I’ve never met anyone else that I’ve been on a call with,” DuBois added. Shea was exceptionally grateful for DuBois' help. “I can't imagine how hard it is to coordinate all of the help that we would need or to know what we would need just by a phone call. So I'm really, really thankful,” she said. The dispatcher pointed out, “We don’t really know what happens after we get off the phone with them because we have to get ready for our next call. So to have the full circle, it’s really special and nice.”