Dispatcher Meets Christmas Baby He Helped Couple Deliver On Highway

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- You may remember this story: Santa made a special and surprising Christmas delivery to one Minnesota family.

An expecting couple was celebrating the holiday in Chisago County. That's when Hannah Lindeman started feeling strong contractions.

She and her husband Taylor took off for the hospital, but they didn't quite make it in time. Along Highway 8 just south of Chisago City, baby Poppy was born.

The couple didn't have to figure it out on their own. Taylor was on the phone with 911 dispatcher Jake Prager, who guided the couple through the delivery.

Fast-forward to Sunday night and Jake is seeing Poppy for the first time.

As you can imagine, there was some reminiscing, particularly when it came to cutting the umbilical cord.

"When I read the instruction to get a shoelace, I figured the cop would grab one of his or something like that off his boot," Prager said. "But he grabbed Hannah's off her boot."

"In his defense he was crammed in the back of our van," Hannah said. "So his feet were probably behind him and my shoe was right in front of him. And they were actually my Christmas snow boots that I had gotten two years prior. So he cut off a shoelace from my Eddie Bauer Christmas boots."

Poppy will be 8 weeks old Monday morning.