A quick-thinking mum has told how she managed to safely deliver her own baby son when she went into labour in a moving cab.
Staying calm under the most intense pressure, 23-year-old Ebony-Paige Blank welcomed bouncing baby boy, Khai, into the world under trying circumstances. Ebony was on a shopping trip with her mum when she began experiencing contractions on February 28.
At first she thought she needed to go home only for the pain to intensify so she flagged down a taxi. Shortly after hopping in the front seat, her waters broke.
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Recalling the lead up to her son's birth, the mum-of-two, from Plymouth, said: "I went into town with my mum where I started to experience on and off contractions. It got to the point where I told my mum I had to go home, that's when I started bleeding so I rang a taxi. I got in the taxi and my water just broke everywhere.
"We got up to where McDonald's is in Derriford and my son's head popped out. Then I had to deliver him all by myself in the taxi. Luckily, I knew what I was doing because I have a two-year-old, so I've been through it before."
Kind-hearted driver Bobby Bailey was made aware of the situation before Ebony got in his Taxi First cab and decided not to charge the young mum for her fare or any clean-up fees.
Ebony described her cabbie Bobby as being "really lovely" and he even went back to visit the 23-year-old in hospital and brought presents for both her and her two kids. She said: "He got me up to the hospital right away and he even got us some presents in the end. He got my newborn son an outfit, got me some flowers and got my two-year-old daughter an Easter Egg and a card."
Speaking to Plymouth Live about the wild incident and how he managed to concentrate on the road, Bobby said: "It was weird because obviously she was sat in the front and I knew what was going on but my concentration was just on the road and making sure we got there [the hospital] safe."
When asked why he chose not to charge the mum, he simply said: "It was the right thing to do." He added: "If you ask anyone I know I'm just that sort of person. I haven't got kids myself, I have nieces and nephews, but to go through that with someone else you don't know it's weird. It just felt like the right thing to do."
Bobby, who has worked as a taxi driver in Plymouth for six years, says that this incident is "one thousand per cent" the craziest thing that's ever happened to him. Thanks to the good hearted taxi driver, healthy three-week-old Khai is now back at home with his mum and dad in Barne Barton.
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