California

“Miracle Highway:” 2 Babies Born Within 2 Days on Northern California Freeway

It's being dubbed "The Miracle Highway."

Two babies were born within two days on Highway 24 in Lafayette, prompting California Highway Patrol officers in Contra Costa County to call this Northern California freeway by that name.

On Wednesday, Tommy Elmesewdy delivered his son Gabriel in a car on the side of Highway 24. He then called off an ambulance and drove the baby boy and his wife, Sabrina Cheung, to a hospital.

Then on Thursday, CHP Contra Costa reported another baby was born on eastbound Highway 24 near the Officer Kenyon Youngstrom Memorial Interchange around 5:30 p.m. The proud new dad pulled to the right shoulder as his wife delivered a healthy baby boy, CHP officers said.

Elmesewdy called 911 about 7:30 a.m. Wednesday to report his wife was going into labor, CHP officers said. He had been heading to a hospital on Highway 24, east of San Francisco, at the time.

After Cheung gave birth, authorities say Elmesewdy called back, telling dispatchers the baby was fine and he didn't need an ambulance because he was driving to a hospital a few minutes away, according to CHP. He drove his wife and newborn baby to John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek.

Tommy Elmesewdy and Sabrina Cheung, of El Sobrante with their son, Gabriel Elmesewdy, who was born on Highway 24 Wednesday.

At home in El Sobrante Thursday,  Elmesewdy and Cheung could finally laugh about Wednesday morning's wild ride.

"My water broke on the way — about five, ten minutes in," Cheung said.

"I was counting down, 'can you wait this long, can you wait this long,'" Elmesewdy said. The next thing he knew, he was pulling over near the Acalanes Exit and the passenger seat had turned into a birthing seat.

"I look down and he's already crowning, I can see his little head," Elmesewdy said.

In the middle of all the chaos, Elmesewdy caught Gabriel, wrapped him in a pillow case and warmed him up under Cheung's shirt.

"He took the reins, I couldn't have been prouder," Cheung said.

Elmesewdy did get time to take a photo during those tense moments on the shoulder. It provides the exact location of the birth — coordinates he will present to the county for Gabriel's birth certificate.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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