A Texas baby could not wait for her mother to arrive at the maternity ward this month, coming into the world with the help of a hospital security guard in Dallas.
Eli Davila made headlines after assisting Betzabeth Perez in giving birth in an elevator on Mother’s Day.
Perez and her partner, Adolfo Soto, raced to Medical City Dallas when the contractions began. When they pulled up to the nearest hospital entrance, Davila immediately recognized that the mother, who already had three children, was in labor.
The hospital’s surveillance cameras captured the entire incident.
Davila was seen on footage using his radio and hurriedly wheeling Perez toward an elevator. The security officer pressed buttons to bring the elevator to their level.
“Anytime we have a big issue, we call it out on the radio,” Davila told Medical City Dallas. “I was like, there’s no time for this; we gotta go!”
The hospital informed the media that the baby was crowning before Perez entered the elevator. Davila said he had less than a minute to deliver the baby inside the elevator.
Surveillance footage shows Perez and Davila entering the elevator, but when they exited, Perez was holding her infant girl in her arms as Davila pushed the wheelchair. Her newborn daughter is named Mia.
According to Jay DeVenny, the CEO of Medical City Women’s Hospital Dallas, Davila did an excellent job.
“Eli’s quick assessment and willingness to help a patient in need takes ‘other duties as assigned’ to a new level and speaks to our colleague’s commitment to delivering excellent care,” said DeVenny.
Both Perez and Mia are doing well after the delivery.
With two adult children of his own, Davila says he would like to be a part of Mia’s life.
“Seems to me like she’s going to be another one of my kids,” he said.