Four MTA police officers received a prestigious award Monday for helping to deliver a baby girl on the side of the Hutchinson River Parkway during afternoon rush hour last week.
Samuel Vira, Eric Li, Joseph Casale and Brian Gilligan were given the Bridge and Tunnels President’s Award for Exemplary Service by Cathy Sheridan, president of the MTA’s bridges and tunnels division at Monday’s committee meeting.
The officers were able to realize the delivery was “moments away” and spring into action to ensure the safe arrival of little Natalie later that day.
“It was an amazing feeling to see the parents and baby doing well,” Casale said.
Natalie’s frantic parents — an MTA spokesperson declined to provide the names of the parents — found themselves trapped in the heavy traffic on their way to the hospital at about 4 a.m.Sept. 22.
There was extreme gridlock on the Bronx Whitestone Bridge because of rush hour traffic, the U.N. General Assembly and a disabled tractor-trailer that had blocked two Queens-bound lanes, according to the MTA.
LI and Casale were alerted to the emergency after they saw the father frantically trying to flag them down on the shoulder of the Hutchinson River Parkway near the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge, according to the MTA.
Li, speaking to reporters after receiving the award Monday, described the whizzing cars as “frightening.”
“There was a lot going on, a lot of traffic, and then, obviously, the mother delivering the baby,” Li said.
Li, whose wife is pregnant with their second child due in October, credited his personal experience as a father along with his MTA police training for helping him through the emergency.
“As a father, I knew that every time their wives go into labor and all that stuff, we usually bring supplies in the car,” Lee said .
“So, that’s what I did, opened up the suitcase, found a fresh towel to provide to the baby and to make sure of the safety and the well being of the baby and the mother,” Lee said.
Gilligan and Vera joined with more supplies and Natalie was born a few moments later, crying loudly, Li said.
“That’s usually a good sign,” he added.
Photos posted to the MTA’s instagram account show Natalie swaddled in blankets, sleeping peacefully surrounded by her beaming parents in the hospital following her harrowing rush hour entry.