CULLEOKA, Tenn. (WTVF) — Calls for childbirth are not unusual at the Maury County Fire Department, but first responders quickly learned this one would be different.
The call came in at 1:15 a.m. on Monday.
"When we were en route is when we learned the patient was having contractions minutes apart lasting, I believe, one to three minutes, and so that was a big warning sign that we may not even make it before she gives birth," said responder Blake Gay.
With 20 minutes left to reach the hospital, time was running out. So the parents pulled over in a church parking lot. In the darkness of night, the parking lot became a delivery room. First responders — Savannah Maddison, Richey Schatz, Blake Gay and Fabian Oden — arrived with just seconds to spare.
"We found the mother here on a towel," said Maddison, pointing to the ground outside the church.
Within two minutes of arrival, baby Kyler Shaydin was born in the parking lot of Stiversville Church of Christ.
"At the time it was so dark that we didn't realize the parking lot we were pulling into," said Maddison. "So the next day to read that and realize where we were after such a chaotic scene was very special that it happened in a church parking lot."
For those first responders it was a baptism by fire.
"You know, we walk into situations all the time where we don't know what to expect, or we've never experienced it before," said Maddison. "This one was just so different and so special."
Both mom and baby are healthy and home resting. Kyler's parents say they are very thankful to all the first responders who delivered her.
