Dad travels 280km just to be there for his child's birth: "I made it to the hospital on time"
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An Australian outback town was overjoyed to welcome its first baby in 15 years, with the farmer father just barely making it in time for the birth of his child after an epic journey across the state of Queensland.
In the Richmond hospital in outback Queensland, young mother Jessie Harvey gave birth to Darby shortly after her partner, Sam Mcgrath, battled flooded dirt roads in order to drive in from a remote mustering camp.
"I made it to the hospital on time, Darby waited for me," Mr Mcgrath, who manages a 600,000-acre remote cattle station in East Creek, Woodstock, said.
Dad Sam Mcgrath travelled 280 kilometres for the town's first birth in 15 years. Credit: Daily Mail.
When her partner was away at the time, the 22-year-old Ms Harvey unexpectedly went into labour. She was in tears when she called her mum and explained to her that this wasn't how she imagined giving birth to her first child would go.
To get to the nearest hospital, she would have to travel 1,460 kilometres from her home. Their only option was the small hospital in Richmond, which didn't have any midwives and didn't even deliver babies.
Thankfully, Ms Harvey's delivery went off without a hitch and there were no complications. Even the medical staff at the hospital admitted that they were all holding their breath until little Darby let out her first cry.
Because their town, Richmond, only has a population of 648 people, there were no midwives working at the hospital at the time of the mum's delivery. A team from the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) had to be flown in just to help Ms Harvey give birth.
The Royal Flying Doctor Service dispatched a team to Richmond to assist Ms Harvey in giving birth. Credit: Daily Mail.
"Jess was an absolute trooper, Sam was there to support and cut the cord, our flight nurse Leanne Ashbacher was incredible, and even our pilot got involved," said RFDS doctor Shima Ghedia.
After that, the Royal Flying Doctor Service flew the family to Townsville for further medical treatment.
Little Darby's father, Sam McGrath, recalled how he was just sitting down for breakfast when he got the call that his partner was going into labour.
"I had just taken a sip out of my coffee when I got the call. I grabbed my bag and chucked it on the ute then had to high-tail it into town," he said.
"Jess had woken up at 3 am with pains and told the cook. They said she was 8cm dilated and they could feel the head but from there I had 280km to go, including over 100km of dirt road."
"I don't want to say how fast I had to go to get there in time because I might get in trouble but I made it," he admitted.
Mr Mcgrath said little Darby is doing well and "kicking all the goals he needs to".
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