Couple Welcomes Baby Into World In Tulsa Gas Station Parking Lot

Most people go to QuikTrip to gas up, grab a snack and get ready to hit the road, but one couple found themselves there for different reasons.

"I think you need to call 911. I feel it crowning, I think it's crowning," said Landon Manuel. 

He and Robyn Manuel were on the way to the hospital to deliver their baby boy, but because of icy roads and fast-paced labor, they couldn't make it. Paramedics who were on their way to them were also slowed down by icy streets.

"The operator's saying, 'Hey, we're at least 20 minutes away, 15, we can't say. We'll get there as quick as possible,' and that's when the reality hit in that it's probably going to be me," Landon said. 

So, in a QuikTrip parking lot at 11th Street and Highway 169, Dad stepped in. In the front seat of their car, he used the clothes off his back and welcomed Rowan Manuel into the world.

"You couldn't wait. You were born in an ice storm in a QuikTrip parking lot," Robyn said. 

But as Rowan made his way into their arms, Landon noticed the umbilical cord wrapped around his son's neck three times.

"As soon as I noticed it, I just stuck the fingers in between the neck and the cord, and he took his first breath like that," Landon said. 

Even though the emergency crews weren't there, the couple never felt alone because the dispatchers walked them through the entire parking lot birth.

"The biggest factor there was someone in the background really as a kind of a calming. Someone there just kind of keeping you grounded and reality you know, 'Hey, I'm here," said Landon. 

Emergency crews showed up shortly after, caring for mom and baby and taking them to the hospital. The next day, the Manuels got to celebrate not only the growth of their family, but mom's birthday, too.