Woman reunites with first responders who helped her deliver her baby on a plane
CBSN
A North Carolina woman has a few people in particular to be thankful for this Thanksgiving: A group of first responders who helped her deliver her baby girl onboard a Delta Air Lines plane. On Wednesday, Liliana Castaneda Avilia met with the members of the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department who helped bring her first child, Analia, into the world just weeks ago.
Castaneda Avilia was one hour into the flight from Mexico to Raleigh, North Carolina, on November 14 when her water broke, according to the fire department. A nurse onboard helped her through contractions — telling her not to push or the baby would come out — until the plane was able to land in Atlanta three and a half hours later, Castaneda Avilia said in a video posted to the fire department's Facebook page, appearing to show the Wednesday reunion between the new mother and father and first responders.
"The airplane was coming in exceedingly fast — faster than normal," one first responder said at the Wednesday reunion.
Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.
The knock at the door came at nighttime on Mother's Day 2008 in Oregon, where Jessica Ellis' parents lived. It was around 9:20 p.m. and his wife, Linda, was already in bed; her father Steve Ellis told CBS News, that he thought someone let their animals out — but two soldiers in Class A uniforms were standing at the door.