Christmas run turns into special delivery

Transit officer helps woman who was giving birth on Philadelphia street

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updated 10:30 a.m. ET Dec. 26, 2007

PHILADELPHIA - Transit officer Steven Rocher got up before dawn on Christmas to deliver a few more presents to his mother's house. He ended up delivering a very special gift indeed.

Rocher, 51, a police sergeant with the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, was driving through North Philadelphia on Tuesday when he heard a woman scream.

The woman was lying on the sidewalk near a bus stop, about to give birth, and he saw a man tugging at her clothes.

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"As I got closer, he says to me, 'Help me, please!'" Rocher said.

Rocher, a transit officer for two decades, said employees get annual CPR training "but nothing about delivering babies."

Still, he managed to figure it out.

"When I heard the baby crying, I felt a sense of comfort because I knew the baby was OK," he said.

Moments later, Rocher got back in his car and flagged down a colleague.

"I said, 'Call radio, tell them we need rescue. I got a baby being born!'" said Rocher, who has three sons, ages 17, 21 and 27.

The rescue car took the baby girl and her parents to Temple University Hospital.

"I will remember this Christmas when I retire for a long time," Rocher said.