Hamilton paramedics reunite with baby delivered roadside

Two months after they helped deliver her on the side of the road in Stoney Creek, Hamilton paramedics reunited with two-month-old Zoey Rose and her thankful parents, Wade Turner and Jennifer Lee.

Paramedics in the Arvin Avenue station Sunday afternoon took turns holding baby Zoey, clad in a zebra print outfit, and playing with the couple's other two girls, Sydney, 4, and Tessa, 2.

It was a Sunday night in September when Turner and Lee got in the car to head to the hospital. Encountering backed up traffic on the highway, they turned off to take a service road. 

Then Lee told Turner, "You're going to have to call 911." The baby was coming fast. 

He did call, somewhat in shock. The dispatcher told him to help his wife get comfortable in their minivan in case he had to deliver a baby. But they also dispatched an EMS crew, which met the couple on the shoulder at North Service Road and Fruitland Road. 

In what seemed like a flash, Zoey was delivered. Turner cut the umbilical cord and they all went to the hospital for follow-up care. 

"When you're on the receiving end of it, you appreciate that people bust their butt to get to you in a hurry," Lee said.

'What if she's not breathing?' 

Two months later, in the station, paramedics Margaret Bell, Dave Dean and Jeff Zondag chatted with Lee and Turner. 

"I had confidence Wade wouldn't have dropped her" if he'd had to deliver the baby without the paramedics, Lee said. "But what about the aftermath? What if she's not breathing?" 

Lee remembers details down to what each one of the paramedics was saying to calm her down in the moment. She teared up as she thanked the paramedics for helping her that night in September.

"I'll remember until the day I die, I'll have your voice in my ear," Lee said, through tears. "I know you guys see a lot of emergencies. But for me, this is my family. This is my life. It's like everything."