Jenesis Turner entered the world at 8:35 a.m. Tuesday — a few days later and about 2 miles short of her mom’s plan.
Jade Turner, 26, and her sister were driving from Deerfield Beach to Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday morning when it became apparent Turner was not going to make it to the hospital in time to deliver her second baby.
Turner’s sister got off Interstate 95 and was met with morning rush-hour traffic, then pulled over in a residential area near Southwest 17th Avenue and Southwest 12th Court off of Davie Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue officials told the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue received the call of a woman in labor about 8:20 a.m., said Lt. Evelio Manso. As the Rescue 247 crew and the Engine 47 crew headed to where Turner and her sister had parked, they, too, were fighting through morning traffic.
Engineer Anthony Schutzer said Davie Boulevard was a “parking lot” as they were on their way, and the address they first received — Southwest 17th Avenue and Davie Boulevard — wasn’t quite right, which added a bit of confusion. Once they got an updated location, they found the car within seconds, Schutzer said.
“Everyone was a little amped up … We already know what we’re about to walk into, but your adrenaline starts pumping,” Schutzer said.
Manso said when they arrived, Turner was actively in labor in the passenger seat of the car. Still, Turner and her sister “were both pretty cool,” Manso said.
Turner, who was 40 weeks pregnant, told the rescue crews her due date was Oct. 19.
It was evident: “This is going to happen,” Manso said.
Turner was transferred from the car into the back of Rescue 247, and as they were on the way to Broward Health Medical Center, Jenesis made her debut. Firefighter EMT Sean Horan, who assisted with the delivery, said by the time the truck crossed the bridge on Davie Boulevard, the 7-pound, 1-ounce girl had been born.
Less than five minutes had passed since they transferred Turner into the rescue truck, Horan said.
Jenesis was “nice and healthy and crying” when she arrived, Manso said. The crew cut the umbilical cord, cleaned and wrapped her and “everything was fine,” he said.
Horan has been on the job for less than a year. Tuesday’s call was a first for him. Just about a month ago, Horan said he sat down with a lieutenant in the back of a rescue truck and went over what to do on a call like Tuesday’s. He cut the umbilical cord after delivery.
“It’s very exciting. My wife is pregnant, too, so it was good practice for me,” Horan said. “I’m a rookie here … so this is a big call for me, and the fact that everything went smoothly — I’m just very grateful for the mom and the baby. I’ll never forget this day for the rest of my career.”
It was Schutzer’s first delivery, too, after seven years on the job. He said his father was a captain with Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue and in his 28 years on the job had never delivered a baby.
“To actually go through the whole process — coach mom through pushing, cutting the cord and everything, was a very low frequency call for us,” he said.
The fire rescue crews brought Turner balloons and flowers at Broward Health on Tuesday afternoon.
“I’m happy to be here. I’m happy to have this experience. This experience is like once in a lifetime,” Turner told WPLG-Ch. 10 from the hospital. “I mean, I have a daughter, but it didn’t happen how her birth happened. It’s like you see these type of things happen on the TV.”
Horan said Turner told them that her 3-year-old daughter has aspirations to be a firefighter some day.
“Maybe her daughter that’s 3 or the one that we delivered will choose this career path one day … You never know. The circle of life,” Horan said.
Originally Published: