Express boat terminal gate locked; woman delivers child on bench
SIBU: It was one nerve-wracking moment for an expecting couple and the paramedics who were there to help them.
All they could do was hope for the best while help was on its way.
The drama unfolded when the couple, a 22-year-old pregnant woman and her husband, arrived at the express boat terminal to find that they could not pass through because the terminal gate was locked.
Earlier the couple had taken a longboat ride from their home in Bukit Kinyau, hoping to make it to Sarikei Hospital after the expecting mother experienced labour pains on Tuesday night.
According to Sarikei Bomba chief Mahmudin Narudin, the couple notified the hospital, quickly got into their boat and headed for the terminal where they were supposed to meet up with the paramedics.
They reached the terminal as did the paramedics. But the unfortunate thing was they were forced to remain on their side and the paramedics on the other, separated by the metal gate which was under a heavy padlock.
“We received a distress call at about 11.56pm on Tuesday about a woman who could not disembark from the terminal as the gate was locked,” he said, adding that the paramedic team was forced to do their best in the situation, which was giving words of comfort to their patient who was in pain.
Mahmudin said 10 firemen were immediately dispatched to the scene. “Our men immediately work on breaking the padlock. It was the only way to get the paramedics to attend to the woman,” he said.
The woman later safely delivered a baby boy on a bench of the terminal with the aid of the paramedic team. Mahmudin said both the woman and the baby are in stable condition at Sarikei Hospital.
