NSW bushfires: Army personnel return to meet Ivy Tyrrell after dramatic birth rescue

Ivy Tyrrell has a special army bear to help her understand her dramatic birth amid the heartbreak and destruction on the bushfire-ravaged south coast and how her safe arrival gave so many working on the recovery effort a reason to smile.

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Ivy Tyrrell has a special army bear she can one day look back on to understand her dramatic birth.

And she will know that amid the heartbreak and destruction on the bushfire-ravaged south coast, her safe arrival gave so many working on the recovery effort a reason to smile.

Australian Army medic Corporal Kristie Connell beamed on Sunday when she met the baby, days after she had helped her mother Sarah through labour.

Australian Army medic Corporal Kristie Connell meets baby Ivy. Picture: ADF

The Tyrrell family was in bushfire-hit Upper Brogo when army personnel came to Sarah’s aid as contractions started.

Cpl Connell from the 8th Combat Service Battalion accompanied the expectant mum to hospital in an ambulance.

She was called to Ms Tyrrell’s home on January 21 when the heavily pregnant woman started having contractions.

Sarah Tyrrell is loaded into an ambulance. Picture: ADF

Australian Army soldiers helped Mrs Tyrrell during the labour. Picture: ADF

Ivy met Cpl Connell and her colleagues and was a hit with the ADF members who passed the brown-haired girl around, laughing and taking photos.

The ADF has been called in to help the Rural Fires Service, and other agencies, as they deal with an unprecedented fire season.

Baby Ivy Tyrrell with a Legacy bear days after Australian Army personnel helped her mum through labour. Picture: ADF

Australian Army soldiers Private Nicholas Brimmer and Private Murray Rickey hold baby Ivy Tyrrell. Picture: ADF

Millions of hectares of land has been burnt and over 2350 homes destroyed since the fires started in September.

While some passed around a newborn baby, other Defence personnel enjoyed a softer job by hand feeding displaced koalas.

Covered in blankets the koalas were cuddled and given water through small syringes by ADF members dressed in fatigues.

ADF personnel enjoy feeding koala refugees from Kangaroo Island. Picture: ADF

The animal’s population has been devastated by the bushfires with millions of hectares of scorched and more than 1000 koalas killed nationally.