Tessie Heeter met with a horrific road accident on August 24, 2018, along with her husband and their four-year-old son when a speeding car rammed into their vehicle.
Trigger Warning: This story contains graphic pictures of childbirth that may be disturbing to some readers
A Colorado mother was left counting her lucky stars after surviving a fatal car crash and delivering her premature baby safely on the backseat of a car within a matter of days. Thirty-one-year-old Tessie Heeter met with a horrific road accident on August 24, 2018, along with her 32-year-old husband, Jon, and their four-year-old son, Hart, when a speeding car rammed into their vehicle. The resident of Fort Collins, who was she was 33 weeks pregnant at the time, was left with a fractured pelvis, broken ribs, and amnesia which resulted in her inability to recognize her husband and son. She reportedly couldn't even recall the fact that she was seven and a half months pregnant when the accident happened.
"I remember sitting on the ground with my son in my lap, but I didn't know who he was," recalled Heeter, according to Daily Mail. "My husband was screaming but I didn't know who he was or why he was in so much pain. In the ambulance, they asked me my name, the year, and what state I was in but I couldn't answer. They said I was pregnant and I replied: 'No, I wish I was.'" Thankfully, her memories were restored two hours after being rushed to a hospital and she was released soon. Jon had to stay in the hospital for another three days.
Two days after the horrific accident, she had just visited her husband when she began experiencing contractions. This is when Heeter's 34-year-old brother, Logan Herbert, rushed her to the hospital. However, Heeter ended up giving birth to little Nell in the backseat of the car. "It was very intense. I personally have never wanted a natural labor, that wasn't something I've ever prepared for. I was screaming," said the mother. But Heeter was left surprised as her premature baby was miraculously delivered, even though it was inside an intact amniotic sac.
This extremely rare situation is called an en caul birth which occurs in less than one in 80,000 deliveries. Recounting the tense moment, Heeter said, "I remember feeling down below and I pulled my shorts off and it felt like a deflated water balloon was poking out. On the next contraction I caught her, she was still in the amniotic sac. I don't know if it was instinct but I felt like I had to get her out so I tore the sac." The amniotic sac containing fluid usually ruptures when a woman goes into labor, but the same did not happen for little Nell. Understandably, her mother was left worried for her tot. "She was only four pounds and her eyes were so wide. I put my mouth over her nose and mouth. She still wasn't crying. I slipped her under my tank top and she latched."
Even doctors were left amazed as baby Nell did not suffer any injuries due to the impact of the car accident or repercussions from being born prematurely. For the full-time mother, it was "spectacular" that she managed to not only survive the crash but also birth a healthy child in a matter of days. "They said that the fact she was born at 33 weeks in a car with no medical equipment and there were no negative repercussions was pretty spectacular," said Heeter, who is now a mother to three children- Hart, 4, Nell, 2, Whit, 1. "It just felt so redemptive. It was almost full circle," she said. "I look back on Nell's birth and I see so much beauty that I wouldn't change it for a moment," she added.
A similar incident happened in 2017 when Raelin Scurry gave birth to her child when she was just 29 weeks pregnant, reports the Independent. Describing the miraculous car delivery, she said, "I pulled my pants off and reached down, sure enough, his head was right there. I pushed one time and my miracle baby was here. When I looked down I realized he was still completely wrapped in the amniotic sac." Thankfully, they reached the hospital on time, where healthcare experts immediately removed the amniotic sac to allow the child to breathe.
Representative cover image source: Getty | Photo by Nenov
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