Police officers have a very diverse job with a lot of different responsibilities, but it’s safe to say that delivering babies is not one of them.
However, if the baby is on the way and you realize you have no time to spare, what else are you going to do?
It’s the exact situation Deputy Robert Pounds found himself in recently when he pulled over a car going 63 mph in a 45 mph zone as part of a routine traffic stop in Naples, Florida. It was 4:00 am in the morning and as he approached the vehicle, the deputy heard one of the people inside screaming out for assistance.
“The baby is coming out,” the woman can be heard yelling in a panic.
The person yelling out was 35-year-old Fabienne Gorges.
The pregnant woman was sitting in the passenger seat and her husband Jean Louis-Wilfrid was driving. The dashboard camera in the deputy’s patrol vehicle recorded the entire wild situation as it played out in real-time.
“Officer, you have the right to stop me, I’m not gonna even lie,” Wilfrid told Deputy Pounds. “We have a baby coming out. That’s the reason why I’m speeding.”
Deputy Pounds immediately called for an ambulance, but when he realized the EMS crew wasn’t going to be able to make it for a few minutes still, he had to improvise on the fly.
Out of options and out of time, Pounds made the split-second decision to deliver the baby himself.
He ran back to his vehicle, grabbed a blanket, and laid it out on the passenger seat underneath Gorges.
Next thing he knew, he was holding the newborn in his arms.
He then congratulated both of them and handed the baby girl off to the father.
“It was exciting, it was a bit nerve-racking, but I was happy to be the one to help these people have their child and I’m glad everything turned out okay,” Pounds said in a video posted on Collier County Sheriff’s Office Facebook Page.
“I hope the baby grows up to be healthy and happy and live a good life.”
The whole scenario is pretty unbelievable and all took place in a matter of minutes.
Other officers and EMS arrived on the scene soon after to help, but by the point, the baby had already been born. If the couple had just continued on speeding in an attempt to get to the hospital, they likely wouldn’t have made it.
Luckily, Deputy Pounds was very helpful, not to mention, very forgiving.
He didn’t even give them a ticket.
“Due to the nature of the circumstances, Jean-Louis was not given any citations, and he left shortly after the ambulance left with his wife and new daughter,” Pound wrote in his report.
It’s a story that the whole department and everyone in the community will be talking about for many years to come, but we are just happy everything turned out okay. The proud mother and father will always remember that crazy night when Deputy Pounds unwittingly found himself coming to their rescue, just in the nick of time.
Check out a news video of the incredible story that shows some of the dashcam footage below.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
