Earlier this month, the airline JetBlue hosted the youngest customer in the company’s history. While a flight from Puerto Rico to Florida was still in the air, a mother gave birth to a healthy baby boy and the flight crew captured images of the unexpected arrival.
JetBlue released a statement reading in part, “We’d like to thank the crew and medical professionals on board for their quick action under pressure, and wish the new mother and son all the best.” Footage obtained by NBC 6 shows medics treating the mother after the flight landed safely in Florida while other passengers look on excitedly.
Fittingly, flight 1954 was operated on aircraft N523JB, named “Born To Be Blue.” In a tweet, the airline quipped: “Giving storks a day off. With mom’s okay, we’d like to rename ‘Born To Be Blue’ after our newest baby blue and our youngest customer ever. More baby shower gifts to come! #AirBorn”
Surprisingly, the baby boy born on a JetBlue flight is not the only baby to make an appearance mid-flight. The Independent reports that two babies born in the air in 2017 were given free flights for life on the respective airlines.
Not all babies born in the air receive such an extravagant gift, but the news stories about each unexpected birth at 30,000 feet show how people come together to take care of a vulnerable baby. On a Turkish Airlines flight in 2017, a baby was born prematurely at just 28 weeks. The flight crew and passengers came together to assist the mother and care for the baby until they could be transported to the hospital upon landing. Mother Nafi Diaby and her daughter both were in good health following the harrowing incident.
Sometimes, unexpected births during travel don’t take place in a city far from home. That’s what happened to a Texas family during a Christmas vacation in 2015. While out of state, all the way in North Dakota, Crystal Russell started hemorrhaging at just 24 weeks into the pregnancy. Her son Wyatt was delivered in an emergency C-section. As a micro-preemie, Baby Wyatt weighed in at a mere 1 pound, 5 ounces.
Baby Wyatt beat the odds and grew into a healthy toddler. The journey was a difficult one, requiring many sacrifices from his family. His brothers had to return to Texas for school and his dad needed to go back in order to work. This left Baby Wyatt and his mother in North Dakota, thousands of miles from home, so that Wyatt could continue to receive the care he needed to grow and develop.
Communities in North Dakota helped to support Baby Wyatt and his mom through the difficult months of being separated from the rest of the family and the uncertain ups and downs of caring for an extremely premature baby.
While radical abortion activists are trying to “normalize” late-term abortion, these beautiful stories of babies born unexpectedly in inconvenient circumstances show that people are ready and willing to support babies and their families when the need arises. The excitement of passengers and crew of the JetBlue flight is palpable. News outlets’ desire to share the story shows how universal that excitement is.
Despite the continued efforts of abortion extremists, we have a culture that still values Life. Every baby, whether born mid-flight or not, deserves the warm and enthusiastic welcome of the newborn delivered on JetBlue.
How can you support newborns and their families in your community?