Falmouth baby born in back of car reunited with firefighters

Falmouth couple Alice Hearle and Josh Beardmore say the dramatic arrival of their second child, Olive, is a story their daughter will share throughout her life.

Olive with two knitted firefighters (Image: Cornwall Council)

When Alice’s waters broke a couple of days before her due date, she went to get checked over at Royal Cornwall Hospital (Treliske).

The mobile hairdresser said: “Everything was fine so we came home to get some rest.

“They booked us in for an induction at 4pm the next day. In the morning, not much was happening. I just had the odd very sporadic mild contraction.”

With it being their second child, the couple were relaxed and thought they knew what was coming.

(L-R) Firefighters Rosie Tonkin, Katie Hoskins with Olive and her parents Alice Hearle and Josh Beardmore (Image: Cornwall Council)

(Image: Cornwall Council)Joh said: “We chilled out, went for a walk along the seafront and got a grilled cheese.

“At about 1pm Alice phoned the midwives. Everything was fine so they said to stick to the plan.”

But just minutes later, Alice’s labour progressed rapidly.

“Five minutes after I got off the phone with her, I had this secondary water break,” she said. “I was getting contractions every minute. I couldn’t walk, couldn’t talk.

Olive with her big brother Teddy (Image: Cornwall Council)

“In hindsight, we should have just stayed at home because we wouldn’t have made it anywhere.”

Josh added: “We were in the car and had just got down the road when Alice said ‘I’ve got to push, the baby’s coming’.”

Realising they wouldn’t make it to Truro in time, Josh, who is used to dealing with emergency situations from his long service as an RNLI lifeboat volunteer, quickly thought of a plan B.

“I knew about the fire at Cockwells because the road had been closed and I had seen all the news reports. I had been keeping an eye on it in case we had to go a different way to the hospital.

“I knew the fire brigade would more than likely be down there. When the ambulance service told me to pull over I thought ‘I know exactly where I can go’.

“I waved over at the guys and said ‘I think I need a bit of a hand here, my Mrs is having a baby’.”

Falmouth Blue Watch and Fire Investigation teams, who were dealing with the closing stages of a fire, immediately sprang into action.

“They were amazing,” Josh said. “The dropped everything. The two girls were straight in the car and said ‘you look after Alice and we’ll deal with the baby’.”

Olive, Alice and Josh with the crews that helped during the delivery (Image: Cornwall Council)

The crew moved a fire engine in front of the car to block the view from the road while firefighter Katie Hoskins took charge of the delivery and her colleague, Rosie Tonkin, stayed on the phone with the ambulance service.

Alice said: “If they were nervous, they didn’t show it at all. They were so comforting and took control of the situation.

“I didn’t have time to be worried. I was just in the zone, I wasn’t really thinking.

“After about three pushes, the baby was out and she cried straight away so I knew she was okay.”

In rather memorable circumstances, Baby Olive was born safe and well at 2.36pm on Thursday, May 16.

A few weeks later Josh and Alice took the newborn and their two-year-old son, Teddy, to thank the crews.

“It was nice to go back and say thank you and talk about it,” Alice added.

“I wanted say thank you to them for being so calm and jumping in like they did. One of the guys even noted the exact time that she was born. Little things like that mean a lot.

“It wasn’t the water birth I had planned but I actually feel really proud and positive about the birth.”

Kath Billing, Chief Fire Officer at Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service, said: “Every day our crews go above and beyond to serve the people of Cornwall.

“I am so pleased that Olive arrived safely and I am immensely proud of the crews that helped with her delivery. They are a testament to the service and their profession.”