A BUNDLE of joy to his proud mother and father, 10-week-old baby Ezekiel William Wallace McCleery is blissfully unaware of the commotion caused when he was born in an ambulance less than 300 yards from his family home.

His mother, Linda, however, says she owes “everything” to the Ambulance staff who assisted in his safe delivery on April 19.

The third son of Brian and Linda, Ezekiel arrived into the world just five minutes after Ambulance Service staff, Alan McCutcheon, Richard Wylie and Fergal Rodgers left the family’s Ballinamallard home.

“Everything happened so quickly,” says Linda, “But Richard and Alan were really good at calming me. I put my faith in them!” After a quick labour and delivery with her second son, Braxton, Linda says she had anticipated something similar for her third baby.

“The consultants never said that I was guaranteed to have another quick birth, but they said it was a possibility,” she explains, “They told me though, that if I felt any pains, I was to get up to the hospital. The day before Ezekiel was born I was feeling pains. But when I got to the hospital I hadn’t actually started dilating.

“They kept me in anyway but at 4pm on Friday afternoon they let me go home again and told me to look out for contractions that I felt all around my stomach.

“When I got home I was getting small contractions in my lower stomach, so I didn’t think it was proper labour. I thought to myself, ‘I’m going back into hospital again for it to be another false alarm’. The pains weren’t really all that strong until around 7.30pm.

“My husband called for the ambulance which arrived 10 minutes later and it all happened very quickly then.” According to Linda’s hospital notes, the ambulance left her home at 8.13pm.

Ezekiel was born at 8.18pm.

Ambulance driver, Fergal, took mother and baby to the South West Acute Hospital’s Emergency Department where maternity ward staff took over their care.

Paying tribute to the professionalism of all health care staff involved as well as her family for their support, Linda says she has a special thanks for Alan and Richard.

“I would suffer sickness all the way through my pregnancies but this last pregnancy was particularly difficult,” she says, “The umbilical cord was around Ezekiel’s neck quite tightly. I have so much praise for the Ambulance crew. I will never be able to thank them enough. They probably don’t understand how much they did and how thankful I am. I had been through so much during the pregnancy that I honestly never through I would have the baby in my arms.

“But for everything to go without complication, I am so grateful to them and I am so relieved to have Ezekiel with us now.

“Ezekiel is such a happy and healthy little boy and his two older brothers, Dylan and Braxton, have great fun with their new brother.

“I think sometimes people don’t stop to think what exactly it is that the Ambulance staff do in their job. It’s only when you experience their help for yourself that you really appreciate the role that they play. And I am forever grateful.”