Polly McCourt stepped out of her New York City apartment Monday to grab a cab to a local hospital after she began experiencing contractions, but it was no use: McCourt ended up giving birth right there on the sidewalk of the Upper East Side neighborhood.
McCourt's doorman, who supported her back during her delivery, was helping her to a taxi when the baby decided it couldn't wait any longer.
Right in the crosswalk at Third Avenue and East 68th Street at about 3:30 p.m., the very soon mother-to-be got down amid passersby to deliver her baby.
"She was like, oh, my God, the baby's coming," one witness told MyFox New York. "And then I could see the baby's head coming out."
But McCourt did not have to deliver the baby alone: Strangers immediately came to her aide.
Several women offered up their scarves to swaddle the baby in, and one person, now identified as 20-year-old Isabel Williams, even gave up her flannel shirt for the newborn, and her overcoat to cover up McCourt in the 30-degree weather.
"I got that coat at Goodwill for $40. I'm fine," Williams reported.
The Good Samaritan is surprised at all the media attention she's getting, and says that she was happy to help.
"I'm kind of shocked that doing what I did was such a big deal to so many people," she said. "It should just be a normality that people help each other out."
McCourt's husband, Cian, soon joined his wife, reported Fox 5 News, who just happened to be rolling by as the events took place. The couple made their way to Lenox Hill Hospital via ambulance after Cian thanked the crowd. The happy family, now plus one, returned home Wednesday.
Their third child, they named her Ila Isabel after the young lady who gave up her coat.