GEAUGA COUNTY, Ohio — A healthy baby boy entered into the world on the side of a Geauga county road Tuesday morning. Kelsey Helms says she started having contractions early Tuesday morning at about 38 weeks into her pregnancy.
Helms says she knew it was time to head to the hospital when her contractions kept getting stronger and stronger. Her mother jumped into the driver’s seat and the two tried their best to make it to TriPoint hospital in Lake County but those plans changed. Helms says her baby could not wait to make his entrance into this world.
“I was in a lot of pain.” said Helms. “[My mom was saying] don’t push yet, you can’t push yet. I was like, there is no stopping it, I cannot control it.”
Before she knew it, the baby was ready to make an entrance into the world as her mother dialed 9-1-1. A dispatcher named Christine Tosti would guide the mother-daughter duo through a roadside delivery at one in the morning. She stayed on the phone with the them for about eight minutes, advising them to grab a jacket to catch the baby while encouraging them to work together.
“I was scared and nervous but I knew that with Christine talking with my mom on the phone, that it would be okay,” said Helms. “[Brentley] is perfect. He kind of groans. He doesn’t really cry.”
3News decided to reunite the dispatcher and mommy, grandma and baby Brentley just hours after the group went through an experience of a lifetime. Tosti says she was happy to see a perfectly healthy little boy weighing 7 pounds and 7 ounces.
“He really made an entrance into this world,” said Helms.
And while Tosti was guiding the mother-daughter duo through the wildest ride of their lives, she was putting herself in their shoes.
“My daughter is due with a baby boy next month and all I could visualize if this was us, and so you guys did great,” said Tosti. “What you did was remarkable.”
However, Helms says what’s remarkable is what Tosti did for them – a voice of reason as Brentley entered the world on the side of a road.
“You see all those healthcare facilities that say heroes work here, well listen, I hope you have one in front of your facility and if not, you need to get one because you guys are all true heroes.”
You can watch the moment when Laura Caso introduces the Helms family to Christine Tosti in the player below: