Trooper Michael Patterson had no idea he was pulling over the man who helped pull him out of his mother's womb.
New Jersey State Trooper Michael Patterson had no idea he was pulling over the man who helped pull him from his mother's womb.
After stopping Michael Bailly for a minor infraction, Patterson walked up to the driver's door. Bailly produced ID showing he was a retired Piscataway cop.
Patterson grew up in Piscataway, and before long, the two were talking about the town and where Patterson had lived. Bailly asked the name of the street. "I told him Poe Place," Patterson recounted.
"Why do I remember the name of that street?" Bailly mused.
"He says, 'You know, I delivered a baby on that street, fresh on the road out of the academy.''' Bailly even remembered the baby's name: Michael.
"I stretched out my hand, I said, 'Sir, my name is Michael Patterson. I appreciate you delivering me.' Can't make up a better story than that," he said.
Patterson's mother, Karen, tells the story of Michael's arrival every time he celebrates a birthday. Even now, she gets teary-eyed recalling how she was forced to deliver her baby at home when her contractions came fast and furiously.
"Just to think about what could have happened..." she said, trailing off.
Her husband unwrapped the umbilical cord from Michael's neck while Bailly got everyone, including the neighborhood kids who converged at her house, to stay calm.
Patterson says the chance encounter is really a divine sign and he and Bailly will build a friendship on that event.
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