Injured Calif. Doctor Delivers Baby After Car Crash on His Way to the Hospital: 'Remarkable'
A California doctor is being praised as a hero after he managed to safely deliver a baby, despite being hurt in a car crash on his way to the hospital.
Dr. George Alkhouri was badly injured following the crash on July 2 — but that didn't prevent him from going above and beyond to make sure that little Bradley Stanghellini made a safe entrance into the world, according to NBC affiliate KCRA.
"I wasn't thinking about the pain in my leg, or the blood on my face, or my hand," Alkhouri, of Golden Valley Medical Centers, recalled to the outlet. "Just, all I'm thinking [is], 'How am I going to get there and how I'm going to deliver this baby?'"
Without that sheer determination, it's possible that things could've gone very differently that evening for Alyssa Stanghellini and her newborn son.
"It's pretty remarkable," Alyssa told ABC affiliate KFSN. "He's a remarkable human being that I just can't express enough gratitude to."
Earlier in the night, after Alyssa had gone into labor, she discovered that Bradley's heartbeat had become dangerously slow and the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck, KCRA reported.
"It was just a whirlwind," Alyssa recalled to the outlet. "I was in a lot of pain, so I was just looking for relief and hoping everything would be okay."
Added her mom, Amanda Maxwell, to KCRA: "It's just like a panicked situation. You just don't know what's going on."
Though Alkhouri was monitoring Alyssa's progress from his home, he soon realized that he had to take action and get her checked in at Dignity Hospital in Merced, according to KCRA.
"I found the baby in a lot of stress and there is a need to take the baby and deliver him immediately," Alkhouri explained to the outlet.
But things didn't go as planned when Alkhouri was on his way to the hospital and ended up being hit by a drunk driver, KFSN reported, citing local police.
"All the glass just shattered and came in my face and my hands," Alkhouri told the outlet.
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Immediately after the collision, Alkhouri said he was able to get out of his car and check on the other driver, according to KCRA. Though his phone stopped working, the doctor was able to call 911, the outlet reported.
Once a police officer arrived at the scene, Alkhouri borrowed his phone to call a charge nurse at the hospital and let her know what had happened, KFSN reported.
"I told her I'm going to do my best to be there," he explained to the outlet. "When the police officer heard us talking, he offered to release me and let me go."
That offer from the cop ultimately allowed Alkhouri — who was bloodied and in pain — to make it to the hospital in time and help deliver baby Bradley at 1:03 a.m., according to KFSN.
"I was standing on only one leg when I was doing the surgery," Alkhouri explained to the KCRA, adding that he even had a nurse in the operating room remove shards of glass from his face.
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As his injuries continue to heal, Alkhouri said moments like this remind him of why he got into the profession in the first place.
"I'm so happy to see Alyssa and her baby, healthy and together," he told KCRA. "This gives me more push to do it again, honestly."
As for Alyssa, she is eternally grateful to the doctor for safely bringing her son into the world.
"I feel like God had his hand over the situation, so I'm just very grateful that Dr. Alkhouri was able to make it even though he was injured," she told KFSN. "I don't know if we would have Bradley here if he wasn't able to make it."
