EXCLUSIVE: Queens Uber Driver Helps Deliver Baby On BQE
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Uber drivers see a lot of crazy things on the road, but one driver in Queens never thought he'd wind up with a baby on board.
CBS2's Hazel Sanchez spoke exclusively with Athanasios Tsakalos, who became an Uber driver six-months ago and says he never expected the job would include delivering a baby.
"It was a crazy experience," he said.
The 23-year-old says he picked up a pregnant woman and her 2-year-old daughter in Astoria and was driving them to Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, but the ride ended about 15 minutes in near exit 34 on the BQE.
"She told me to stop and call the ambulance because she's going into labor," he said. "You know, I start panicking at this point because I never really went through this before."
Tsakalos says he moved the 2-year-old to the front seat, gave mom some towels in the back seat, and called 911 for help. The baby was in breech, meaning her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck.
"The body, the legs, the arms, were out already by the time the cop came there," Tsakalos said. "I told him to please just take over and he put on the gloves."
NYPD Highway Patrol Officer Raphael Mohammed arrived and delivered the baby girl the rest of the way.
"My priority was to get there to this child and free the airway up, so everything just kicked in one after the next," Mohammed said Sunday.
Tsakalos says he's just having trouble believing what he saw Sunday
"I will definitely remember this for the rest of my life," he said.
Both the mom and newborn baby girl are doing fine at Wycoff Heights Medical Center in Brooklyn. As for Tsakalos, he said after the delivery he decided to take the rest of the day off.