When a woman in labor discovered she wouldn’t make it to the hospital before her baby came, her fiancé pulled into a gas station and waved over a nearby man to help; by a stroke of incredible luck, that man just happened to be obstetrician.
Dr. Javier Soto, 44, was filling up his car at the Speedway in Merritt Island on Friday while wearing blue hospital scrubs when the panicked father-to-be spotted him, running over to ask if he was a medical professional.
Not only is Javier a medical professional, but he is an OB-GYN with 13 years of experience and was on his way that day to deliver a baby at the Rockledge Regional Medical Center just 15 minutes away.
Happy accident: Dr. Javier Soto, 44, was gassing up his car at the Speedway in Merritt Island when a man asked for his help with his fiance, who was in labor in their pick-up truck
Man for the job: The couple were truly in luck, as Dr Javier is an OB-GYN with 13 years in practice
There he is! The baby boy was born in just four minutes, after Javier told the woman to push on her next contraction
The doctor explained to People how he hesitantly confirmed his qualifications, not quite sure what sort of medical emergency he was being called over to help with.
But after confirming that he was indeed a doctor, he accompanied the man to his truck, where he opened the door revealing his fiance lying on the seat in labor, the baby already beginning to crown.
‘I could wait for the ambulance or deliver the baby,’ he thought at the time.
‘I don’t know how the baby’s doing at this point. I thought it was better to deliver the baby.’
Javier sent the father into the station to buy some provisions including gloves and a pair of scissors, and made him give up his shoelaces.
Their encounter turned out to be perfect timing, as the birth went unusually quick – only four minutes in total.
In action: Javier (pictured with his wife) was called over to the truck and found that the baby was already crowning
Getting it down: He asked the father to buy supplies in the store, including gloves and scissors
Wrapping up: The ambulance soon arrived and loaded up the woman and her new baby boy
On her way: Dr Javier called the mom ‘the luckiest girl in the world,’ and followed on to the hospital after finishing filling up
In another coincidence, Javier had actually previously treated the new mother during pregnancy before an insurance issue led them to switch healthcare providers.
Just after putting on the gloves, Javier instructed the woman to push on the next contraction. She did, and the baby boy arrived right then and there.
Javier dried the child and massaged him until he cried. He then used the shoelaces and scissors to tie and snip the umbilical cord.
Following the delivery, Javier said that the mother was ‘the luckiest girl in the world,’ adding: ‘God has a purpose for everything. He put me there for some reason.’
The ambulance arrived soon after and, after pumping his gas, Javier accompanied the little family to the hospital, where he helped with post-natal care. He also learned that the baby boy he delivered was full term and was due on December 10.
The date on which the baby was actually born, December 8, was the 12th anniversary of Javier’s own mother’s death.