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Canoe believe it? Baby born after mother delivered to hospital in canoe


Pregnant woman in labor rescued from rising floodwaters by boat
Pregnant woman in labor rescued from rising floodwaters by boat
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NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) --{}A pregnant woman found herself going into labor as she tried to escape rising floodwaters by boat. It's a delivery the family will never forget.{}

Tyshenequia McLean gave birth to a son this weekend, but only after she was delivered to the hospital in a canoe.

McLean started going into labor Sunday{}while her North Charleston home was surrounded by flood water. She and her mother, Tammy Bizzell, were getting nervous when firefighters arrived, with a canoe.{}

"I was scared. It was so much water," Bizzell said.{}

They pulled her along in the waist-high water until they reached dry land and a waiting ambulance. Her water broke at the Trident Medical Center and, after nine hours of labor she gave birth to a healthy, 9-pound, 21-inch baby boy she named Elijah Ty'Quan McClean.{}

"I can honestly say in 15 years I think that's the first patient I've ever had that came to Trident via canoe," said Erin LaRoche, a registered nurse.{}

And now that baby Elijah is safe in McLean's arms, all those fears of getting from home to the hospital are washed away.{}

It was a first for many. For McLean, it may be the last. At least for a while.{}

"I won't have another kid for about 40 years," she said.{}

The family did not experience any major damage to their property, and hopes to take baby Elijah home on Wednesday -- by car.{}

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