By Kathy Chouteau
Richmond Firefighters Local 188 recently reunited with a baby its members helped deliver last October, according to a post by the firefighters on Facebook. Firefighters from Firehouse 63 met up with young Donny Hogan III on his first birthday, and during the visit he quickly got busy checking out one of their firetrucks.
Firefighter Manuel Gali and two fellow crew members responded to a 911 call last October when baby Donny surprised his mother, Patrice Hogan, by coming into the world three days early. Without enough time to transport Patrice to the hospital, the crew delivered baby Donny at his grandmother’s house in El Sobrante.
In a story by KTVU, Patrice told KTVU reporter Amber Lee that her contractions were only two minutes apart when the firefighters arrived in a flash to deliver the baby, a first-time honor for Gali. “I clamped the umbilical cord, brought the father over and I suctioned the nose and we got him crying,” the firefighter told KTVU at the time. “Experiencing that with the family and sitting there and then just watching their emotions, you know you can’t help it—you get a little wrapped up.”
“There really are no words—they were absolutely fantastic,” Patrice told KTVU about the firefighters’ safe delivery of her son. The baby’s father, Donny Hogan, Jr., shared his wife’s sentiments, noting that they are aware that things could have turned out very differently.
“Our son, this house, our family…we’re truly blessed for how everything turned out,” said baby Hogan’s father during the interview with Lee at the family’s home.
No word yet if baby Donny has his sights set on becoming a firefighter someday, but if Richmond Firefighters Local 188’s photos are any indication, the prognosis looks good: he’s already wearing fire engine red and attempting to drive their fire truck.
“We couldn’t be more pleased or proud to serve our community, especially when we get to see the stories of success we are a part of,” said Richmond Firefighters Local 188 on its post about the reunion.
