A child and the firefighter who delivered her are reunited
Addy Aguilar was excited and surprised when on April 14 — her birthday — she got the chance to meet the firefighter who helped bring her into the world in her mother’s Huntington Beach home eight years ago.
Justin Schrey, a Huntington Beach firefighter and paramedic who delivered Addy, provided a birthday cake for the girl and sang “‘Happy Birthday.” He was joined in the festivities by other Huntington Beach firefighters.
“It was so cool,” said Addy, whose mother said the girl often likes to tell the story of the “special way” she was born.
The meeting was one that Schrey and Addy’s mother, Alma Cisneros — who posted on social media in an attempt to find the paramedic who helped her deliver Addy — had long been looking forward to.
Schrey said in a phone conversation following the party that he responded to the home around 11:30 a.m. that day after the Huntington Beach Fire Department received phone calls about a woman in labor.
When he arrived, Schrey saw Cisneros laying down on the bed with a panicked look on her face. She thought she had more time but soon discovered that the baby was arriving sooner than anticipated.
“I did a real quick exam, and I had only been in the house for like 10 or 15 seconds,” Schrey said, adding that he had delivered a baby only one other time. “I remember seeing the baby’s head, looking at Alma and telling her, ‘Well, I guess we’re doing this here.’ Seconds later, Addy was in my arms.”
Cisneros, who found Schrey after she posted to a Huntington Beach community Facebook page, said she was excited to see Schrey again and thank him for helping with the delivery.
“It was nice to put a face to the man who delivered Addy,” said Cisneros, who has four other children. “Even though he was here, just because it was so chaotic that night, I just knew a name and I didn’t know a face. I’ve been so grateful over these years because without him, who knows what could have happened.”
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Twitter: @BrittanyWoolsey
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