For all the heartbreaking and scary stories coming out of Tropical Storm Harvey’s assault on the Gulf Coast, trying times still have a way of bringing out the best in people. The latest case: This 63-year-old midwife who rode an inflatable swan to deliver a baby during the storm — AKA your new hero.
Cathy Allen Rude was faced with a difficult decision on Monday when she realized that rain or no rain, the baby she signed on to help bring into the world was a’coming, the McClatchy Wire Service reports. She knew she had to get to her birthing clinic, a few miles away from her flooded home, but needed a way to keep dry to get there.
So, as the Dallas Morning News reported, Rude’s client spotted one of her neighbors floating in the flood on an inflatable swan and inquired about giving her midwife a ride like some enterprising aquatic Uber neogiator.
The good content we need in these dark times: Midwife rides inflatable swan through flood to deliver baby #Harvey https://t.co/bZhlOOViea pic.twitter.com/11jcJdcEka
— First of Her Name (@KateRoseBee) August 30, 2017
And it worked! Rude and the neighbor tag-teamed to get all her baby-birthing equipment onto the swan and floated her to the end of the street where the mom-to-be waited in her truck. And, of course, they made it to the Katy Birth Center where they welcomed a baby boy— who came into the world at 9 pounds, 12.2 ounces and with a truly badass origin story.
While mom and baby headed home that night, Rude elected to stay at her clinic to help another client bring another small human screaming into the world. Dayum.
TL;DR: She is the swan queen and we are not worthy.