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    Hike takes unexpected turn, Marines stumble upon roadside birth

    CAMP LEJEUNE , NC, UNITED STATES

    02.19.2015

    Story by Cpl. Michelle Reif 

    II Marine Expeditionary Force   

    MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - For the Marines of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, the hike in the frigid afternoon of Feb. 19, 2015 started out like any other. The company was headed south on Marines Road, just keeping their heads down, pushing through.

    They were six miles into the hike with four more to go when the unexpected happened.

    “Someone from the rear was yelling something that made us all stop,” said 1st Lt. James G. Barnes, a platoon commander with the company and native of Charlottesville, Virginia.

    A car was parked on the side of the road with its hazards flashing. Marines were gathered around it and calling out for a corpsman. When Petty Officer 3rd Class Matthew Hunter arrived on the scene, he was shocked to see a woman that had just given birth.

    The pregnant woman, her husband and their young son were making their way to the naval hospital when the woman’s labor became too intense, and they knew they weren’t going to make it. Luckily for them, these Marines were calm under pressure and assisted during an extraordinary situation.

    Hunter signaled for a piece of 550 Cord and provided it to the father to tie off the baby’s umbilical cord. The mother and new baby boy were then wrapped up tight to protect them from the bitter cold while they waited for the ambulance.

    “I checked both of their pulses and it was a strong baby,” Hunter said. “I’d been running almost that entire hike and his pulse was stronger than mine.”

    The paramedics arrived soon after and helped pack up the shocked family into the ambulance. The whole event, from the time the hike stopped to the time the ambulance left, took only about ten minutes. Once the blare of the ambulance siren had faded, the Marines picked up their packs and continued on another four miles.

    “I’m just glad that we were able to provide the family with assistance,” said Barnes. “It’s not every day you get to say, ‘I helped a family that just delivered a baby’ during a hike.”

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 02.19.2015
    Date Posted: 02.23.2015 13:00
    Story ID: 155163
    Location: CAMP LEJEUNE , NC, US
    Hometown: CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA, US
    Hometown: CLEVELAND, TX, US

    Web Views: 1,246
    Downloads: 1

    PUBLIC DOMAIN