A Pennsylvania State Trooper is being hailed a hero after delivering a baby on the side of Interstate-95 near the airport exit.
Trooper Peter Burghart was patrolling the area Saturday when he saw a SUV speeding down the highway. The vehicle initially failed to stop but eventually pulled over to the berm in the area near the airport exit.
The driver explained to Trooper Burghart he was on the way to the University of Pennsylvania because his wife was in labor.
“I felt like I was in a bad dream,” recalls mother Tricia Snyder.
“Probably your worst nightmare,” agrees husband Matt. “Driving to the hospital, not being able to get there because you’re thinking the worst.”
Additional units arrived on the scene. But baby Elizabeth Tricia Synder couldn’t wait for paramedics. She was delivered in the front seat of her parents’ SUV by Trooper Jean Altomari.
“Mrs. Snyder was really calm. I asked her if she was ready to push. She said ‘she was.’ She pushed and Elizabeth was born,” smiles Trooper Altomari. “Probably the best feeling I’ve ever had. That was amazing.”
“This situation is a reversal,” Trooper Burghart tells Fox 29. “You’re dealing with people where they still have anxiety and they’re anxious for what’s going on, but it’s to welcome a new child into the world.”
“It was nice not to have to do that on our own because we were gonna be having her in the car no matter what so it was definitely nice to have their help,” says Snyder.
This is the family’s second child. When they had their first daughter, they had just made it to the hospital.
The mother and baby are at home doing fine.
