Daniel Manca is a first year probationary officer with NSW Ambulance Service and the birth was the first delivery he has ever made.

The young paramedic had never been further west than Paramatta before moving to Bathurst and said the experience was one he will never forget.

He said he and his partner got the call out to help the pregnant woman at about 7am.

“I didn’t know what to expect,” Daniel said.

“We pulled up and the mum was waiting out the front of the house wailing in pain. I had heard stories about pregnancy being messy and along the way the mother kept on screaming “it’s coming, it’s coming” and I would check and say “not yet”.

“Then just as we pulled up outside the hospital she screamed “it’s coming” again and I looked and saw a little head and said “yes it is”. Then I did a Ricky Ponting catch and caught her

as she came out. It was unbelievable.

“Her partner came round to the back of the ambulance and we cleaned her up, cut the umbilical cord and gave her to mum.

“She was a nice, healthy little baby girl. It was a very special moment.

“I said to my mum I didn’t cry, but I did have tears in my eyes.

“One of the senior guys said to me, we see a lot of people take their last breaths in life and it is always good to see someone take their first breath. That was very meaningful to me.”

Affectionately known as “the hobbit” by his co-workers, Daniel grew up in the Sutherland Shire and had never left Sydney before moving to Bathurst.

“When they asked me which I would prefer, Dubbo or Bathurst, I said Sydney,” he laughed.

“I moved out here towards the end of winter last year and I was wearing a couple of pairs of trackies. It was great when my thermal gear arrived. I couldn’t believe it when the guys were saying it was starting to warm up.”

He said Bathurst has grown on him and he wouldn’t mind moving back here in the future.