Firefighters reunite virtually with baby they helped deliver in a car

Orange County firefighter-paramedics arrived with seconds to spare to help complete the delivery of a baby boy who was born in a car in Mission Viejo on July 3.

Melissa had no idea she would give birth to her third child in the front seat of the family’s car within less than two hours of waking that morning. Baby Silas, though, had other plans. 

“I thought we had hours, not minutes,” said Melissa, who had planned to deliver the baby at a hospital in Irvine.

While in route at Jeronimo and Alicia, Melissa realized baby Silas couldn’t wait and yelled for her husband Mike to pull over and call 911. Mike noticed a Kaiser Permanente clinic while looking for a place to stop and ran to get help. The staff came streaming outside, but Melissa couldn’t move from the passenger’s seat. The firefighters arrived immediately after – believing they were responding to someone injured from a fall.

“We looked at each other and said ‘OK’ and fell back on our training and within two minutes on scene, a baby was born,” said Firefighter Kai Brady. 

On Thursday, those firefighters were virtually reunited with Melissa, Mike and baby Silas Malachi. 

“I am so grateful you had that training to help us in our time of need,” Melissa told the firefighters via Zoom.

The baby’s middle name is in honor of the heroes who helped deliver him that day.

“We go to quite a few calls and typically it’s someone’s worst day, and to go on a call where it’s someone’s best day is something very special for us to be a part of … and is something I will never forget,” said Firefighter Kyle Crossen.