Driver sure did deliver
HOW’S ‘Q9’ FOR a baby name?
Norton Cockburn was instructing a trainee behind the wheel of a Q9 bus when a pregnant passenger’s water broke on Jamaica Ave. in Queens on Aug. 3. At around 150th St. in Jamaica, the woman — who was taking the bus to a hospital — let out a scream.
“She shouted, ‘My water burst! Driver, driver, my water burst!’ ” Cockburn recalled. “I instructed the trainee to pull over. Then I instructed everyone to get off the bus.”
There was no time to bring her to the hospital, so the miracle of birth had to take place on the floor of the bus.
Cockburn spotted three cops standing across the street from the bus and called them over to help. The cops contacted EMS.
As they waited for EMS to arrive, Cockburn, his trainee and another passenger, comforted the mom-to-be as she sat on the floor gripping a seat.
“I was there, telling her to take a deep breath, hold on, everything will be all right,” said Cockburn, 57, of Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
When EMS arrived, Cockburn and his trainee made sure the woman had her privacy during birth.
With the baby born, Cockburn grabbed the softest thing he could find — a bundle of paper towels — to swaddle the newborn until a proper blanket could be retrieved.
EMS workers delivered the baby and then drove the mom and her new son to Jamaica Hospital.
Cockburn’s efforts earned him a nomination for the fifth annual New York Daily News Hometown Heroes in Transit award. The award is produced in partnership with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Transport Workers Union Local 100.
The Hometown Heroes in Transit awards recognize the men and women who do more than just keep trains moving and drive buses. They protect passengers from danger and come to the aid of their brothers and sisters in uniform.
Suzette Pome, general superintendent at the JFK Bus Depot where Cockburn has worked for the last 10 years, nominated the driver.
“With all the difficulties operators face, he still showed compassion and he still was able to give some aid to someone who needed it,” Pome said.
The experience undoubtedly provided an unforgettable lesson for the trainee.
“A bus driver should focus and keep calm,” Cockburn told hometownheroestransit @nydailynews.com
Daily News Hometown Heroes, P.O. Box 5040, Bowling Green, NY 10274.
(212) 643-7831. nydn.us/heroes the Daily News. “As a bus driver you have people’s lives at stake.”
Cockburn’s wife Deirdrea said she’s proud of her “workaholic” husband.
“He spoke about it for days,” she said. “I’m very proud of him because he is a very dedicated worker. He goes above the call of duty sometimes.”
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