A baby girl named Precious Arellano was recently born inside a speeding taxi.
The baby’s 22-year-old mother, Aira Arellano, gave birth to Precious inside a cab as she rushed to en route to the East Avenue Medical Center in Quezon City when she went into labor on Wed night, Jan 11.
Assisted by her mother-in-law, Buena Morante, Aira was denied admission to Tala Hospital, the public hospital closest to their home in Camarin, Caloocan.
Morante said in Filipino, “The doctor said they couldn’t accept us because her (Aira’s) tummy was too small and the child could be premature. They had no incubator and it could harm the baby if they delivered her there.”
With just PHP1,000 in their pockets, the two women looked for a ride to East Avenue Medical Center in Quezon City, which was almost an hour away.
Along came taxi driver Armando Mayao, who was waiting in a line of cabs near Tala Hospital.
The had already reached Maligaya Street in Greater Lagro, Quezon City when the screaming in the cab reached its peak. Along Quirino Highway, Mayao chanced upon a group of night-shift media workers who had a rescue team in tow.
The news and rescue teams accompanied Mayao’s group to the Commonwealth Hospital and Medical Center and even pitched in to cover some of the expenses.
A motorist listening to a live radio interview with the baby’s grandmother passed by the hospital to give PHP1,000.
However, the contributions from kindhearted strangers barely met the newborn’s bill at the private hospital.
To avoid spending more, Aira’s mother-in law checked her out of the hospital with the baby and headed to the East Avenue Hospital in another hailed cab.
Meanwhile, Aira’s live-in partner, Aniceto Morante, has yet to know his daughter has been born as he has no cellphone and stays at his workplace in Parañaque City. He will not return home until the weekend.
Aira, for her part, thanked everyone who helped her give birth.
“Thank you so much, if it weren’t for you who knows what would have happened to my baby?” she said from her hospital bed.
It was from the same bed that Aira named her baby Precious, a reminder of the child’s value and what her family went through to bring her out into the world. —Anjo Bagaiosan, ABS-CBN News
This story first appeared on ABS-CBN News Online and is republished with permission.
