Close X
Friday, January 3, 2025
ADVT 
International

Indian-Origin Doctor Sij Hemal Delivers Baby On Paris To New York Flight

IANS, 31 Jan, 2018 12:07 PM
  • Indian-Origin Doctor Sij Hemal Delivers Baby On Paris To New York Flight
An off-duty Indian-origin doctor had an "oh boy" story when he helped deliver a healthy baby boy while on a trans-Atlantic flight from Paris to New York at 35,000 feet, according to media reports.
 
 
When a 41-year-old went into labour a week early, Air France flight attendants asked if there were any doctors on board. Dr Sij Hemal, a 27-year-old second-year urology resident at Cleveland Clinic's Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute, immediately came forward, Cleveland 19 News reported.
 
 
Dr Hemal started in New Delhi, stopped in Paris and was heading to New York, where he would catch a connecting flight to Cleveland.
 
 
Dr Hemal was hoping to drink a glass of champagne and take a nap on a plane from Paris to New York on December 17, but instead helped deliver a healthy baby boy named Jake during the flight, the report said.
 
 
Together with Dr Stefanie Ortolan, a pediatrician from France, the two managed to deliver baby Jake after just 30 minutes of pushing, Dr Hemal said. He did not know that she was pregnant. He said the mom's bump was covered with a blanket.
 
 
"As a urologist, I was excited. I thought it was kidney stones, but later found out that she was 39 weeks pregnant," he said.
 

AN OFF-DUTY INDIAN-ORGIN DOCTOR DR. SIJ HEMAL HELPED DELIVER BABY ON BOARD PARIS-NEW YORK FLIGHT : An off-duty...

Posted by Ajay Nandy on Wednesday, 31 January 2018
 
Dr Hemal said there was no time to land the plane and the best decision was to deliver the baby on-board. Dr Hemal used a shoestring to tie and cut the umbilical cord for baby Jake.
 
 
"This has been a team effort and certainly a flight I will never forget," he said. Although Dr Hemal's practice area is urology, he delivered seven babies during medical school - although never on the floor of a jetliner.
 
 
"We're trained to stay calm and think clearly in emergency situations," he adds. "I just tried to think ahead to what might go wrong, and come up with a creative solution."
 
 
After Jake arrived, Dr Hemal said he FaceTimed his parents.
 
 
"Look I'm flying first class," he told his parents. "I wanted to surprise them and tell them I was flying first class. I'd never flown first class before. And ... umm ... by the way I also just delivered a baby! It was one of those moments I'll never forget," he said.
 
 
For his efforts, Air France delivered a travel voucher and a bottle of champagne to Dr Hemal.

MORE International ARTICLES

Trump Calls For Keeping America Safe From Radical Islamic Terror

Trump Calls For Keeping America Safe From Radical Islamic Terror
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that violence by Islamic extremists was behind an increase in criminal offences in the United Kingdom.

Trump Calls For Keeping America Safe From Radical Islamic Terror

Indian-Origin Security Guard Jailed For Staged Robbery In UK

Indian-Origin Security Guard Jailed For Staged Robbery In UK
Ranjeev Singh and fellow security guard Mohammad Siddique were jailed for conspiracy to steal at Kingston Crown Court in south-west London on Wednesday.

Indian-Origin Security Guard Jailed For Staged Robbery In UK

USA Expects Pakistan To Take Decisive Action Against Terrorism: Rex Tillerson

USA Expects Pakistan To Take Decisive Action Against Terrorism: Rex Tillerson
Ahead of his India visit, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Wednesday that the US expects Pakistan to take decisive action against terrorist groups, and warned that countries that use terror as an instrument of policy will only see their international reputation diminished.

USA Expects Pakistan To Take Decisive Action Against Terrorism: Rex Tillerson

WATCH: Donald Trump Celebrates Diwali In Oval Office With A Shout Out To Modi And Indian-Americans

WATCH: Donald Trump Celebrates Diwali In Oval Office With A Shout Out To Modi And Indian-Americans
US President Donald Trump celebrated Diwali at the White House by lighting a diya amid a gathering of leading members of the Indian American community and said he greatly valued his relationship with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

WATCH: Donald Trump Celebrates Diwali In Oval Office With A Shout Out To Modi And Indian-Americans

Pak Lawmaker Agha Siraj Durrani In Trouble After Saying He 'Urinates On Votes'

Pak Lawmaker Agha Siraj Durrani In Trouble After Saying He 'Urinates On Votes'
A petition has been filed in the Sindh high court, seeking Durrani’s disqualification as he has “demotivated people from participating in the electoral process”.

Pak Lawmaker Agha Siraj Durrani In Trouble After Saying He 'Urinates On Votes'

India Can Help Us Keep An Eye On Pakistan, Says Nikki Haley

India Can Help Us Keep An Eye On Pakistan, Says Nikki Haley
India can help the US keep an eye on Pakistan as President Donald Trump has “taken tougher approach to Islamabad harbouring terrorists”, US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haleyhas said.

India Can Help Us Keep An Eye On Pakistan, Says Nikki Haley