As ex-tropical Cyclone Debbie savaged the North Queensland coast, one family found a particularly lovely cause to celebrate: their newborn daughter.
The baby girl, named Billiana, was welcomed into the world at 4:20am on Wednesday at the Whitsunday Ambulance Station at Cannonvale, near Airlie Beach.
Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) took to twitter to share the exciting news, confirming that both mother and baby were “safe and dry”.
QAS Director of Operations, Dave Hartley, explained the unusual circumstances in which little Billiana made her entrance, while speaking with the Courier Mail .
“Just after 4am we were called to a lady in labour in the Whitsunday area and our paramedics attended because we could get in there, it was safe enough for us to respond,” he said.
“With all of the road closures and damage we couldn’t transport her to the hospital so we took her to the ambulance station where they delivered the baby girl just after 4am.”
He added: “Everything is fine, it was a nice controlled delivery they are just waiting to assess things today to see if they can get her to hospital.”
Queensland’s Minister for Ambulance Services, Cameron Dick, took the time to tweet his congratulations to graduate paramedic Pamela who contributed to the successful delivery.
“Amid the destruction of #CycloneDebbie the birth of #baby Billiana reminds us life is precious & by looking after each other, all will be okay,” he said.
Queensland Premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, similarly sent her well wishes to Billiana’s parents, who are yet to be named publicly.
“You know, out of all of this, to see a little miracle, I think brings a smile to a lot of faces,” Ms Palaszczuk said at a press conference.
“Especially to all those people who have been working so hard overnight.”
A hearty congratulations to all involved!
