Baby boy born on roadside named after hero ambulance officer
Andrew Hall was is such a rush to make his way into the world this week he ended up being born on the side of the road
Coffs Harbour
Don't miss out on the headlines from Coffs Harbour. Followed categories will be added to My News.
ANDREW Martin was in such a rush to make his way into the world this week - he ended up being born on the side of the road.
And in a special nod to the hero of the day, the little baby boy was named after the man who delivered him, ambulance officer, Andrew Green.
The drama unfolded on Wednesday morning after mum Shontelle Hall, 23, who lives at Zilzie, had been quite anxious about being so far from Rockhampton to give birth.
"I had been dreading it, it was my greatest fear," she said yesterday.
Preparing for what was to come, Shontelle got in touch with ambulance officers at the Emu Park station a few weeks ago letting then know she was quite far along and would need transport when the time came.
With three children already, her previous births had her worried.
Her first child was a three-hour birth and the second an hour-and-a-half, which were both girls, her last one was a boy and he was only 20 minutes.
Given her history there was the chance she could give birth on the side of the road.
"In the back of my mind I had that possibility but I tried not to think about that because it was so scary," Shontelle said.
The morning Shontelle gave birth to baby Andrew started like any other day.
She was 40 weeks and one day so her partner, Josh Martin, went to town to put fuel in the car and take the youngest to kindy.
Shontelle was at home with the two older girls waiting for the kindy bus when she felt her first contraction.
At home on her own, she was quite hesitant, wondering if it had been a real contraction.
She waited for the kindy bus and the driver came in, helped her to get the girls ready and stayed until Josh came before they called the ambulance.
It was there in five minutes.
When she got into the ambulance her contractions were five minutes apart and the Emu Park station paramedics Andrew Green and Mark Tuppack wanted to try get her to Rockhampton.
Halfway there and she was having contractions two minutes apart.
Shontelle's instincts kicked in. She could feel the baby coming so they pulled over on the side of the road around Nerimbera, about 3kms before JBS Swift Meatworks (on Rockhampton's outskirts).
As the ambulance pulled over her waters exploded, spraying liquid all over the back of the ambulance and the roof.
"It was just like in the movies, it went everywhere," Shontelle said.
She took a breath and in her next breath she pushed and the baby was out.
Ambulance officer Mark who was driving hadn't even made it to the back door in time.
Shontelle was unable to have Josh or her Mum in the ambulance with her as there can only be one person in the back and in this case it had to be the paramedic.
Josh and Shontelle's Mum were travelling behind.
They saw the ambulance pull up and rushed over to see what was going on.
The gender of the baby had been kept a surprise so there were a lot of emotions when Dad and Grandmother saw the baby for the first time.
Baby Andrew Robert-Dean Martin was born on May 1, 2019, at 10.02am on Emu Park road.
An unspoken agreement came over Shontelle and Josh to name the baby Andrew after the ambulance officer.
Shontelle was lost for words how wonderful officer Andrew was to her.
"It just felt right," she said.
"He just made me feel really safe, it was really comfortable, the way he was talking to me as well.
"It was such all just such a surreal time. It is always going to be a moment I will tell my family and friends about and now (baby) Andrew will carry that on and that is what makes it really special."
After the birth the family and the ambulance continued on to Rockhampton Hospital to get the baby checked out.
Mark and Andrew both made a point of coming back upstairs to check on Shontelle and baby Andrew.
"It was such a touching moment when they came back up and talked to us," she said.
In the hustle and bustle of everything going on they didn't a chance to tell officer Andrew they had named the baby after him and they can't wait until he finds out.
To make it even more special, Shontelle later found out from the nurse that officer Andrew's middle was Martin, which is also baby Andrew's family name.
Shontelle especially wanted to acknowledge the two ambulance officers for their assistance.
"Thank you to Andrew and Mark for putting up with my pain, they were both so lovely, it was such a beautiful experience," she said.
"I couldn't have had anyone better to do the job than Mark and Andrew."
Baby Andrew is just perfect and doing well.
Originally published as Baby boy born on roadside named after hero ambulance officer
Revealed: The 64 women who went missing or were murdered
For the first time the full list of 64 women who went missing or were murdered along the NSW north coast can be revealed.
Murdered or missing: Are multiple serial killers still stalking victims?
Dozens of women who were brutally murdered or disappeared on the NSW North Coast, but whose perpetrators were never caught can be revealed among fears some of them could be the work of one or more serial killers.