Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/65581
Exit Only Special delivery No. 3 Meet NFI driver Mike Hawthorne, roadside midwife H ow many roadside midwives do you know? Such is the unlikely description that can now be appropriately applied to NFI driver Mike Hawthorne. Hawthorne's latest birthing happened around 2 a.m. on I-30 well northeast of Dallas, where the truck/trailer relocation hauler had pulled off on an exit ramp and was checking the chains holding down a service van on his trailer. "I pulled over and, after about a minute and a half to two minutes," Hawthorne says, "I walked around the front of the truck to open my driver-side door and saw the father running by the backside of my trail- er asking me not to go anywhere. " His first thought: As in any such situation, he "didn't know what to expect," he says, "didn't know if this would be a setup or what." Quickly, however, he realized it was no con or joke. "As soon as he said his wife was in labor, I said, without hesitation, 'I'll grab my phone,'" all the while thinking "this can't be happening to me again." When he couldn't get any phone service, Hawthorne grabbed his birthing kit. You read right: Haw- thorne, who early on in life learned the basics of baby delivery from by TODD DILLS his mother and grandmother, both midwives, has kept such a kit on- hand since the first baby he delivered in 1999 outside the TravelCenters of America location in Ontario, Calif. In the kit, you'll find sharp, sterile scissors, rubbing alcohol and alcohol swabs, plenty of clean water, a small suction device to clean mucus from the child's mouth to ensure easy breathing and a pair of latex gloves, as well as a clean white shoestring for tying off the umbilical cord. He didn't need the shoestring or scissors in this latest delivery. Police on the other side of the highway noticed the commotion, turned around and radioed for an emer- gency medical unit. "The baby was born before the medical units ar- rived," Hawthorne says. "I wrapped it in a towel and set the baby on the mother's belly, " leaving the umbili- cal cord to the professionals who had just arrived. And Hawthorne was on his way. The next day, he called in to his boss to tell him about the un- scheduled delivery, leaving a brief, nonspecific message. Meanwhile, new father Jack Smith, who'd not managed to get Hawthorne's name, at least re- membered the company insignia NFI driver Mike Hawthorne (pictured) hauls for the fleet's maintenance department in this 2005 Peterbilt 379, primarily, also driving an International tow truck on occasion. 78 | TRUCKERS NEWS | JUNE 2012 T ruckers News Senior Editor Todd Dills blogs daily from Nashville, Tenn., via http://www.overdriveonline.com/ channel19. To read Todd's blog on your smartphone, scan this QR code using a decoder, which can be found in your phone's app store. on his tractor and found NFI's area office, taping a note of thanks to the dispatch office door. One thing led to another, and when Hawthorne finally got his boss live on the phone, he said, "I bet I know what you need to talk to me about. Is this baby number three?" Two-time (1999 and 2000) Truck- load Carriers Association Highway Angel Hawthorne says he's not plan- ning on delivering a fourth, but "if I'm in the right spot, I'll do it again. I like helping people out." POSTED | CHECKING IN WITH JAZZY | When we learned that Jim Beine, driver for Central Point, Ore.-based Oldland Distributing, had named the 272-inch wheelbase 2001 Peterbilt 379 he drives "Jasmine" in honor of Jasmine "Jazzy" Jordan, we checked in with the young runner. Anyone who's paid any attention to the trucking press the past several years will remember her 2009-10 Los Angeles-to-New York run to highlight truckers' health insurance and health care needs. "Any young person who is willing to sacrifice so much to help the American truck driver deserves to be recognized," Beine said. Since the run, Jordan has had two sur- geries, one on each of her feet, to combat bunions that arose as a direct result of the long-haul stress. For two weeks after her lat- est, March 2 surgery, "she couldn't walk and had to be carried everywhere," she says. Despite the problems, "I would never regret what I did," she says, "the memories of the whole experience. I'll never forget it." For more from my most recent interview with her, see the April 19 post on the Channel 19 blog: http://overdriveonline.com/channel19. TODD DILLS