Most State Troopers don’t go to work expecting to help deliver a baby that day. But Alabama State Trooper Michael Kesler got to experience the miracle of birth in a unique way over the weekend.
Kesler pulled over a speeding vehicle in Limestone County on Sunday and quickly realized why it was speeding. The woman sitting in the passenger seat was in labor and very close to delivering her baby.
The passengers, Danny and Shawna Lowe, were trying to get to Athens Hospital, having already passed three other hospitals on their way. “It was a risk I was willing to take,” said Danny. “I was driving safely. I was just going a little bit above the speed limit.” Kesler pulled them over just two miles away from the hospital. He soon realized that the baby was coming with or without him.
“Without hesitation, Trooper Kesler quickly acted and assisted in the delivery of the baby,” said Spencer Collier, Alabama’s secretary of law enforcement.
Despite taking place in a car on the side of the road, the birth went as smoothly as possible. “She pushed, and I caught him,” said Danny. “That’s pretty much how it went.”
After the baby boy was born, Kesler called an ambulance and helped keep mother and child warm. He followed the new family to the hospital, and even stopped at the store to pick up flowers, cupcakes, and a newborn starter kit for the parents.
Six-pound, 19.5-inch Barrett Lowe now has quite the story attached to his birth. Mother and son are both happy and healthy, and will be released from the hospital today.
“I’ve said probably a hundred times that I had a baby in a car. I can’t get over that. It still blows my mind that it happened, and we all survived,” said Shawna.
This experience has undoubtedly left an impact on all involved (except maybe little Barrett) and will likely create a permanent bond between the newly expanded family and their champion. “It’s a newly acquired friendship. We’re going to know each other a long time,” says Kesler.
Kesler’s heroic actions are the epitome of going above and beyond the call of duty. “He doesn’t have to do that kind of stuff, it came from his heart,” says the proud father.
Secretary Collier commended Kesler, saying his actions “exemplify the mission of the Alabama State Troopers — to serve and protect.”
Trooper Kesler did issue a speeding warning to Danny Lowe.
