New mom flags down ambulance to help deliver baby along I-10 in Phoenix

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) -- Marie Abega and her new baby, Legacy, are doing great, which is impressive considering where he was born. “I started yelling at my partner, ‘Can you please drive a little faster?’” said Abega, who lives in Tolleson. “I said, ‘I don’t think I am going to make it.’”

The new mom delivered her son early Sunday morning along Interstate 10, near State Route 51 in Phoenix. Abega’s boyfriend was driving her to the hospital when she realized they were out of time.

But instead of pulling right over, the couple flagged down an ambulance alongside them. “It’s 3:55 in the morning, there’s no one on the road and he looks over‚ and there’s this ambulance on the left,” said Abega. “He’s like, ‘Do you want to stop the ambulance?’ I’m like, ‘Please, please, please’ and he starts honking the horn and we’re both waving and she pulls over.”

The ambulance driver, an EMT, rushed to Abega and delivered the baby. Shortly after, they were taken to nearby Banner University Medical Center. “I just want to tell Kate that I’m extremely thankful,” said Abega. “Grateful for her quick action, for stopping on the side of the road because after she stopped, we didn’t have a minute; he was here. If it wasn’t for her, I literally would have had Legacy inside my car.”

This wasn’t how mom planned to have her baby, but now that it’s over, Abega knows she’s got quite a story to tell her son when he’s older. “I see these stories all the time and I never imagined I’d be the one on side of the road,” said Abega. “I’ll always remind him, hey, you were born on side of I-10, exit 147, that’s your mark right there, 147.”

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