Baby born on coastguard helicopter celebrates first birthday with crew

A baby born mid-flight on a search and rescue helicopter over the Cornish coast has celebrated his first birthday with the crew that helped deliver him.

Torran MacDonald arrived two weeks earlier than expected in August last year after his mother, Alicia, went into labour while officiating at a friend’s wedding in the Isles of Scilly.

As there was no midwife on the islands, HM Coastguard picked up Linda Benson, a midwife, from Cornwall, before flying to Scilly to bring the expectant mother to a hospital on the mainland.

However, Torran was born during the flight with help from Benson and the helicopter crew.

Torran, his older sister, Ferne, and their parents, Alicia and Sandy, visited the base in Newquay, Cornwall, to be reunited with the three crew members as well as the midwife.

MacDonald said: “Torran obviously didn’t want to wait and he made his entrance to the world onboard the helicopter. We were safe and well and everyone was absolutely amazing, but it was all a bit of a rush.

“So we wanted to mark Torran’s first birthday in a memorable way, and what better than to visit the base and say a proper thanks to the fantastic coastguard teams, midwife Linda and everyone involved. They’ll always be an important part of our family.”

The family returned to the base and had tea and cake with the crew members, Paul Forbes and Andy Batchelor, as well as Yogi Brunner, who was flying the helicopter that night.

Capt Mark Coupland, the deputy search and rescue flight operations manager and chief pilot for the Newquay coastguard helicopter, also joined the celebrations.

He said: “This really was a rescue of the very best kind and we were delighted to help welcome Torran. It definitely gave all our helicopter teams and everyone at HM Coastguard a big lift.

“We’ve kept in touch with Alicia and Sandy and we’re absolutely delighted they wanted to come back and see us all. While we don’t expect to get thanked for our 24/7 coastal search and rescue work, it’s really lovely when we do.”

It was believed to be the second time a baby had been born onboard a coastguard helicopter in the UK. The previous birth was over the island of Lunna Holm in the Shetlands in December 2012.