Boston Movie Shoot Delays Expectant Mom`s Trip to Hospital
Oct. 10--At least one thing was serene on Interstate 93 this afternoon and that's a Norwood couple's newborn baby girl, Serene, after she was delivered roadside at the Morissey Boulevard exit by Boston EMS on a training mission.
Stop-and-go traffic today produced a mess of screaming drivers -- as well as the screaming baby girl, after her parents' rush to the hospital was caught in the massive jam caused by shooting the new movie, "R.I.P.D."
Veteran Boston EMT Miguel Diaz, 39, was in a training truck with Michelle Chu and Jonathan Stromberg, 27, of Quincy when they got the call for a highway delivery just after 1 p.m.
"We showed up and the woman was standing and was very scared and nervous," said Diaz of Stoughton, "She kept stating that she had the urge to push so we got the ball rolling and we moved her into our ambulance. There was crowning and the baby was imminent, it only took her two pushes."
The new Norwood resident was born in good condition at 1:24 p.m. on I-93, which experienced back-ups after the movie temporarily closed the Zakim Bridge this morning and state troopers set up "rolling roadblocks" for the film crew.
"It's always been my goal in EMS to deliver a baby, it's one of those things I've never done and it was really exciting and exhilarating," said Chu, 25, of Wayland, "It was life-affirming, yesterday we lost a patient and that was very depressing so today it felt like the universe in balance and it was really one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen."
Diaz praised mother Ena Elhadidy, "She was very thankful but the mother did all the work so we just helped her out. She did very well as a patient," he said.
"We got the patient on the stretcher and as soon as we loaded the mother in the truck it must have been a minute or 30 seconds and that was it," said Stromberg, "It was two pushes and the baby was out and crying and everything."
"Considering these guys are new," said Diaz of Chu and Stromberg, "I'm sure they were nervous but they kept it inside and were cool, calm and collected during the delivery."
"We had the dad cut the chord after the delivery, he was very excited and nervous," said Diaz, who works out of Dorchester Ambulance 11.
"We expect getting into Boston at that time was difficult and (the movie) may have played a role," EMS spokeswoman Jennifer Mehigan said.
The new baby wasn't the only person crying about the wait.
"It's a mess," said Sharon Lundin, 52, of Burlington said she had been sitting on the same two block stretch of road near South Station for more than 20 minutes.
"I feel bad for all the people who had to come to work and sit in traffic waiting for the stupid movie," Lundin said. "That should be done in the middle of the night with lights."
Filming for the zombie cop thriller starring Ryan Reynolds, Kevin Bacon and Jeff Bridges stopped at noon, state police spokesman David Procopio said.
"If this is all about a movie, I'll never go to one again," said Ron Keenan, 65, of Charlestown, who was driving back from Cape Cod. "I had no idea it was going to be this bad."
Tracy Gordon, 39, of Boston said the traffic going up I-93 made her late to work.
"It was brutal," Gordon said. "I think there should have been more advisories."
Traffic was clear again by early afternoon.
mszaniszlo@bostonherald.com
Copyright 2011 - Boston Herald
