Utah trooper helps deliver baby on I-15
May 23, 2025, 10:18 AM
A routine afternoon patrol turned into a life-changing moment for Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Angel Teran, who helped deliver a baby on the side of Interstate 15. (Nathaniel Gillis/KSL TV)
(Nathaniel Gillis/KSL TV)
SALT LAKE CITY — A routine afternoon patrol turned into a life-changing moment for one Utah Highway Patrol trooper who helped deliver a baby on the side of Interstate 15.
Trooper Angel Teran was driving northbound near 2700 South on Thursday, around 2:30 p.m., when a truck suddenly sped up behind him, flashing its lights. Inside, the trooper would soon learn, was a man frantically trying to get his friend to the hospital — she was in labor and out of time.
“They waved me down, and I saw their faces,” Teran said. “It clicked — something was wrong.”
What happened when the vehicles pulled over was something the two-year veteran never expected.
“(The man) yells at me, ‘Hey! There’s a baby!’ I looked down and it’s a brand-new baby just coming out,” Teran said. “The first thing I saw was the back of the baby’s head.”
With no time to spare, Teran jumped into action, helping the mother as she delivered her baby on the shoulder of the freeway. He caught the baby and held him until emergency medical services arrived.
“Right there and then I saw the baby crying and open his mouth. I saw he was breathing, so I knew he was okay,” Teran said. “I was happy to see it and make sure he was breathing, and I was able to check his heart at least for a little bit.”
The emotional moment left a lasting impression on the trooper. In speaking with the driver, Teran learned he was preparing to pull over and call 911 moments before spotting his patrol car.
“I told the man, that’s a pretty express way to call 911 for sure,” Teran said.
“He was just telling me that this was an experience he never thought he would have, and I was like ‘same,’” Teran said. “Tears just started coming out, and I’m like, ‘I’m probably going to tear up with you too because this is a special moment.’”
Adding to the serendipity of the moment, the mother only spoke Spanish — something Teran was grateful he could understand and speak. He believed a higher power placed him in the right place at the right time.
“A higher power probably put us in a good spot at the right moment,” he said. “You never expect to help people in a happy moment like the birth of a child.”
