A Michigan couple raced to the hospital after the woman went into labor a day early and thought they would get pulled over by a cop. Instead, they got a police escort.
Mary Weertz went into active labor on Oct. 17 and, while prepared, she said she was caught off guard by the pain.
“I’m freaking out. I’m crying instantly, just balling my eyes out," Weertz said.
Her fiance, Austin Sadowski, quickly jumped into action, got her in their truck and began speeding to the hospital.
Utica Officer Liz Demuynck said she saw the erratic driving of the young, panicked couple making an illegal turn, and the couple saw spotted her patrol car.
"I’m like 'Oh my, God. We’re gonna get pulled over. Of course, we’re gonna get pulled over right now,'" Weertz said.
The couple went on the offensive and decided to call dispatch to notify them why they were speeding. The dispatcher recommended they slow down, so the officer could evaluate.
Officer Demuynck, who is a mother of two young children herself, jumped into action and escorted the couple to Corewell Health Beaumont Troy Hospital instead of initiating a traffic stop.
“Being a mom and being able to put yourself in her shoes of what you’ve gone through when you’ve delivered babies, it’s a very scary situation. Things can turn so fast," Demuynck said. “I think it just really made me go into go-mode — just get her there and get her safe.”
On the body camera video, you can see Demuynck escorting the couple to the hospital, calming Weertz down and guiding them to the proper hospital entrance.
"Is this your first?" Demuynck can be heard asking in the video.
“No, my second. But I had a C-section with the first one," Weertz responds in pain.
“OK, why don’t you just pull up here and at least they can assess you first," Demuynck said.
Weertz had hoped to deliver at her home hospital, but the staff at Corewell Health Beaumont Troy Hospital told her she wouldn't make it any further.
“Once they got the monitors hooked up, not every contraction but more than they liked, his heart rate was dropping super low, so they were nervous about that," Weertz said.
Weertz delivered a healthy baby at 11:10 p.m. and was glad Demuynck helped them through the stressful time.
“She was our family hero," said Sadowski.
The Utica police officer has stayed in touch with the family, meeting up with them and showering baby Henry with toys. The family hopes for more babies after their wedding next year and said they'll know exactly who to call if anything goes wrong.
“They say they’ll always hold it with them, but I’ll hold it with me for my entire career," Demuynck said.
This story was originally published by Ruta Ulcinaite and Jordan Nagel at Scripps News Detroit.
