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Mother thankful after officers deliver baby along Charlotte highway

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A Charlotte mother is thanking a pair of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officers who helped deliver her baby on the side of a Charlotte interstate.

Taelor Johnson, 27, said she wasn’t due until May 15 but knew she needed to get to a hospital early Saturday after experiencing severe abdominal pain.

Johnson, her mother and her almost 4-year-old daughter piled into a car and started traveling north on Interstate 77. The family was about to take Exit 9 toward uptown when they were stopped by a line of traffic. There had been a crash on the interstate and other vehicles were at a standstill.

Johnson said she got out of the car because she wasn’t feeling well and realized her baby girl was making her arrival much faster than expected.

“I was just holding onto the guardrail and looking down,” Johnson said.

Her mother ran to two nearby officers helping direct traffic impacted by the crash, she said.

“We saw a lady across the road,” Officer Kevin Jackson said. “She was kind of frantic, waving her hands.”

Jackson, 23, who had only been on the job for five weeks, said he relied on training to ask Johnson certain questions, then he and fellow Officer Mike Caskey got ready to help deliver the baby.

“He gave me the nod as he was putting on his gloves,” Jackson said. “So I put on mine.”

“I have three kids so I’ve been through a couple of these before,” Caskey said. “I didn’t think the baby was actually going to come before the medics though.”

Johnson said there was no time to think or be afraid.

“I just wanted to make sure she got out and was OK,” Johnson said.

Johnson said her baby, Aria Shay, was born before she could even sit on the ground.

The officers ran to get blankets and kept baby Aria warm until medics arrived.

“I was excited and a little nervous,” Jackson said. “A little fearful because bringing a life into the world is kind of a big deal.”

Johnson told Channel 9 she’s thankful the officers were nearby.

“I’m just glad they were there to help us,” the mother said.

The officers said with all that’s happening in society today, it was nice to help bring a new life into the world.

“Seeing the violence and the negative things,” Caskey said. “It’s good to see some of the positive things sometimes.”

Johnson said a female officer also helped the family, particularly her 4-year-old daughter, who was in the car while the mother went into labor.

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