A DUBLIN man who had just started a job as a taxi driver had his skills put to the test in ways he had never expected.
According to The Independent, Dubliner Keith Mooney had been working as a taxi driver for six weeks when he was called to drive a woman to the hospital.
But within minutes of picking the woman up, passenger Sonia Akhigbe realised that her waters had broken and there was no way they would make it to the hospital in time.
“After a few moments she (Ms Akhigbe) started shouting ‘It’s coming, it’s coming!’” Mr Mooney told The Independent.
Mr Mooney didn’t think twice; he pulled the taxi over to the side of the road and called an ambulance. After asking Ms Akhigbe’s permission, he checked to see if the baby’s head was visible.
“I couldn’t believe what was happening, but I knew I had to remain calm to keep this lady’s stress levels to a minimum,”
Mr Mooney himself had a newborn at home and says that aided him in keeping calm and having an idea of what to expect.
In less than fifteen minutes, Ms Akhigbe delivered her baby girl, who she named Dawn—but the ordeal was far from over.
Mr Mooney described what happened next, telling the newspaper:
"I held the baby in my arms and made sure that the umbilical cord wasn't wrapped around her neck and took off my T-shirt to clean the baby's mouth and nose.
I asked if the mother could remove her top so the baby could have skin-to-skin contact and I put my jacket and shirt around them for warmth.”
The 999 operator advised the taxi’s occupants to tie wrap a shoelace around the umbilical cord, but as both Mr Mooney and Ms Akhigbe were wearing slip-on shoes, Mr Mooney had the idea of using his phone charger instead—and it worked perfectly.
Baby Dawn was safe; the afterbirth was delivered and shortly afterwards emergency services arrived to transfer the mother and daughter to the hospital.
Ms Akhigbe, now a mother of five, has thanked Mr Mooney for his bravery and quick-thinking.
“I'm just so happy because he remained so calm during my delivery and made sure I was as comfortable as possible," she said.
You don't find people like him every day and I'm just so happy that I can now call him a very good friend.”
She went on to say that the family would be telling this story “hundreds of times down through the years.”
Mr Mooney joked that he ‘wouldn’t dream’ of charging Ms Akhigbe for the taxi fare—in fairness, technically he hadn’t driven her to her destination!
