Baby Born in Stuck Elevator after Snowstorm Delays Hospital Arrival
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File photo. (Photodisc/Thinkstock)(TACOMA, Wash.) — A newborn baby boy in Washington State can already lay claim to having survived two unexpected disasters: one of the worst winter storms to ever hit Washington State, and being delivered in a hospital service elevator.
The harrowing series of events surrounding the arrival of Blake Michael Thacker had a happy ending: he came into the world at the St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma, around 5:45 Wednesday morning.
It began with his parents, Katie and Luke Thacker, leaving their home in nearby Graham hours before when Katie started to go into labor with her second child.
The couple’s drive to St. Joseph took twice as long as usual because of the snowy and icy conditions created by the winter storm that unexpectedly walloped the state this week, local ABC affiliate KOMO reports.
By the time the Thackers managed to pull into the parking lot of the hospital’s emergency room, Katie was ready to push, so hospital staff rushed her into a service elevator to whisk her to the maternity ward on the 14th floor.
The group, now comprising the Thackers, four nurses and Katie’s mother and sister, rode the elevator to the 12th floor where they had to switch elevators to continue on to their 14th floor destination.
Luke, Katie’s mom and sister and one nurse stepped out, only to watch the elevator’s doors close, leaving Katie and the three remaining nurses trapped inside the elevator and now stuck between floors.
While hospital staff called emergency crews to rescue them, Katie and the nurses proceeded as Mother Nature demanded, delivering Blake inside the elevator. He was a healthy 7 pounds 15 ounces, and 21.5 inches long.
According to KOMO, the elevator remained stuck for about two hours before two technicians could pry the doors open.
Luke reportedly stayed in touch with Katie during the delivery via walkie-talkie, before climbing down to cut the umbilical cord of his newborn son.
Mom, nurses and baby all made it out of the elevator safely and unharmed, and with a good story to tell.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio