While most people were snuggled in their warm blankets, hidden away from the bristling wind and rain of Irma outside in the early hours Monday, Jonathan and Jennifer Murphy were rushing to the hospital.  

“My daughter woke me up around 4 a.m.,” Jennifer Murphy said. “Then my water broke and my contractions started. We called my parents to come get the girls [daughters.] My contractions were getting more intense and closer together.”

The Murphys were on their way to Brookwood Hospital in Birmingham on I-20 around 5 a.m., but did not make it very far. They called 911 for a police escort who offered to assist if they pulled to the side of the road.  

Jonathan Murphy pulled the vehicle over at exit 140 in Leeds, in the Grand River Shopping Center parking lot. Evan Thomas Murphy was born at 5:19 a.m., delivered by his grandmother Debbie Daboin in the Murphy’s new van. 

“He was born before the paramedics arrived. We didn’t have anything to cut the umbilical cord,” Jennifer Murphy recalled from her hospital room. “Paramedics arrived about five minutes after he [Evan] was born, cut the cord, and took us to the hospital.”

Both mother and son were healthy with no complications. Evan Thomas Murphy weighed 6 pounds 12 ounces and was 19.5 inches long.  Jennifer Murphy said his older sisters, ages 19 months and five years old, already love their little brother. 

“This has definitely been an interesting story,” Jennifer said. Jonathan and Jennifer Murphy and her mother are all Pell City residents.