HAUBSTADT, Ind. — Levi Sims’ nighttime patrol on Wednesday was on track to mark yet another routine shift when he overheard a distressing radio message: A mother was going into labor while en route to the hospital, and she wasn’t going to make it in time.
A nearby paramedic unit was busy with another call. Sims was the closest responder
The Gibson County deputy immediately swung a u-turn on Interstate 64 and sped off to what would become a successful roadside delivery outside a Flying J truck stop and a Denny’s on a frigid winter night near the small town of Haubstadt.
“God put me in the right place at the right time,” Sims recalled during an interview Thursday morning at the Gibson County Sheriff’s Office in Princeton. “I was there within 40 to 45 seconds.”
When Sims pulled into the truck stop parking lot just after midnight, the soon-to-be born baby’s father, Caleb Bare, flagged him down: “The baby’s coming, the head is almost out,” Bare exclaimed.
The mother, Myranda McCoy, was seated in an extended-cab pickup truck. It was below freezing outside, and there was still some snow on the ground from a winter storm a few days prior.
“I threw on some gloves, ran over there and had mom push,” Sims said. “And the baby came out, started crying, and I handed mom the baby.”
Sims recorded the time of birth: 12:16 a.m., Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025.
They were all in a state of shock — and cold. Sims grabbed some blankets from his squad car.
He had received some basic training in emergency deliveries, but this was the first time he ever had to put it to use. Sims said he did his best to emulate the doctors who delivered his own two children. Cognizant of the unusual arrangement − or perhaps a bit apprehensive − McCoy asked if this was Sims’ first time delivering a baby.
“I said ‘yeah,’ and I go, ‘Is this your first kid?'” Sims said. “And the dad immediately chimed up and goes, ‘First time in the front seat of a truck.'”
The tense situation gave way to a moment of humor. The baby was safe, breathing and in mother’s arms. Sims let out a sigh of relief. He waited there with McCoy, Bare and newborn baby Juniper for the 10 minutes it took paramedics to arrive.
“Nobody expects to give birth to their kid in a parking lot,” Sims quipped. “We were all pretty worked up. It was a pretty tense situation there for a few moments. The main thing that I wanted to make sure of was that mom and baby were happy and health, and I believe that they are.”
Houston Harwood may be contacted at houston.harwood@courierpress.com.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Deputy delivers baby at Gibson County truck stop during patrol
Reporting by Houston Harwood, Evansville Courier & Press / Evansville Courier & Press
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