When two Warrnambool police officers pulled over a car for speeding last week, they didn't expect to be asked if they were "any good at catching babies?"
asserted
they → pull → babies
What began as a normal night shift for Sergeant Liam Cook and Constable Angus Hill quickly became one they will "never forget".
They were patrolling the Princes Highway near Dennington, near Warrnambool, just after 2am on Monday, October 19, when they pulled over a blue SUV going slightly above the speed limit.
"Both the driver and passenger side door flew open, which to us as police officers is a bit of a red flag," Sergeant Cook said.
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Cook → begin → flag
But when the officers approached the car, the driver, Joel, asked them if he could settle any fines later as his wife was in labour.
uncertain
wife → approach → labour
That's when Joel turned to them and asked, "Are you any good at catching babies?"
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you → turn → babies
"To which I think I had some expletives in my reply," Sergeant Cook said.
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Cook → think → reply
The officer calmly called for an ambulance, but the baby was not going to wait.
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baby → call → ambulance
The expectant mother, Jamie-Lee, said Constable Hill offered to hold her hand while Sergeant Cook helped her partner deliver their second child.
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partner → say → child
Within two minutes, baby Ashlee was born.
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Ashlee → bear → minutes
"We've got the little girl all wrapped up, nice and warm," Sergeant Cook called over the radio.
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Cook → get → radio
He then informed Jamie-Lee that it was a girl.
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it → inform → Lee
"It was a really special moment for us to be involved in as well, to share the news that they had a daughter," he said.
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he → involve → daughter
Once the ambulance arrived, the healthy baby and parents were taken to hospital "just to be safe".
Jamie-Lee and Joel were reunited with the two officers yesterday for the first time since the roadside birth.
"We're lucky we had such great fellas to experience it with us," Jamie-Lee said.
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Lee → arrive → us
Little Ashlee has an 18-month-old sister, who Jamie-Lee said took a "lot longer" to enter the world.
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Lee → have → world
"You hear the stories and you never think it's going to be you, but unfortunately it was us," she said.
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she → hear → stories
The family lives about 50 kilometres outside of Warrnambool and made it within 4 kilometres of Warrnambool Base Hospital.
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family → live → Hospital
Joel said he was focused on getting to the hospital until he heard the sirens.
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he → say → sirens
"We were going to get there as far as I was concerned," he said.
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he → go → ?
"Until they said the ambulance was coming, that was the first time I thought, 'Well, it's happening.'"
Warrnambool's two makeshift midwives, Sergeant Cook and Constable Hill, received a warm reception back at the station.
"
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midwives → say → station
It was such a good energy in the police station," Sergeant Cook said.
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Cook → say → station
It was a similar reaction when Sergeant Cook called his wife, who happens to be a midwife.
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who → call → wife
"She was just in disbelief that if it was going to happen to anyone, it happened to me," he said.
"
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he → go → me
She said we did a good job.
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we → say → job
She said everything that we did [was] almost textbook."
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we → say → that
While delivering a baby isn't part of police training, both officers agreed it highlighted just how varied policing could be.
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policing → deliver → training
"Nine times out of 10, we're dealing with people on their worst day, so it was lovely to deal with someone on their best day," Constable Hill said.
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Hill → deal → day
"[It was] certainly a career highlight that I don't think Angus and I, we won't top it," Sergeant Cook said.
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Cook → think → it
While Joel and Jamie-Lee don't have any plans for a third child right away, they said things would be different if there was a next time.
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things → have → child
"If there is, we'll be staying in town," Joel said.
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Joel → be → town
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