Edited for brevity.
The population of Afghanistan grew slightly Saturday, thanks in part to a pair of Black Hawk crews and a 25-year-old flight medic from Wiesbaden, Germany. Army Spc. Kyle Storbakken helped an Afghan mother deliver a healthy 6Âœ-pound baby while aboard the Black Hawk flying to the U.S. military base Salerno. Peer Mullah Khan, the baby's father, is a leader of the village next to the U.S. outpost at Skhin. Through a translator, he said he came to U.S. troops for help when his wife started struggling during labor. Giving birth isn't a new experience for his wife, Melawa. The baby girl, who hasn't been named yet, is the couple's 14th child. Two have died, but the others — ranging from the newest addition to a 19-year old girl — make for a large family. Two sons currently serve in the Afghan army. American officials said they agreed to take the mother and father aboard the aircraft because it appeared that the placenta was between the baby and the birth canal, potentially putting both lives at risk. Fortunately, that turned out to not be the case. In order to save time, one helicopter was dispatched from Salerno to Skhin to pick up the mother while another left Bagram to fly to Salerno. While the first helicopter was on its way back from the village to Salerno, the mother gave birth. |