The Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA- Addison Doxtader knows how to stop traffic.
The newborn daughter of Adam and Stephanie Doxtader entered the world Sunday in the front seat of her parents’ car on the shoulder of a downtown expressway.
The Doxtaders were about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from the hospital when they realized they wouldn’t make it to the delivery room.
That is when Adam Doxtader spotted a Philadelphia police cruiser on Interstate 676. Inside was Officer Marc Desiderio.
Surrounded by traffic, Doxtader held down buttons on the officer’s two-way radio so Desiderio could respond to directions from the police radio room. Addison, weighing 7 pounds, 2 ounces (3.24 kilos), was born at 12:20 p.m.
Both mother and daughter were doing fine, Doxtader said.
Desiderio, whose normal assignment involves inspecting trucks, said it was the first time he had delivered a baby.
“I was choked up,” said the father of four.
Doxtader was dazed by his daughter’s speedy arrival. He thought they would have plenty of time to get to the hospital because his wife was in labor for a full day when their first child was born more than two years ago.
“If it wasn’t for Officer Desiderio, I don’t know what we would have done,” Doxtader said. “Thank God for Officer Desiderio.”
“Thank God for police radio,” Desiderio said.