US News

Miracle mom swam for life

A pregnant 21-year-old Filipino woman swam for her life after being carried away by a 6-foot-high typhoon storm surge — and not only survived but gave birth to a healthy girl.

“She is my miracle,” Emily Sagalis said in the rubble of an airport control tower that became a makeshift medical center for survivors.

Sagalis managed to flee to an evacuation center on Friday when Typhoon Haiyan flattened her town near Tacloban, the capital of Leyte province. But the ensuing storm surge carried her away.

“I had thought I would die with her still inside me when high waves came and took us all away,” she told reporters while her husband, Jobert, held the baby.

Sagalis said she had to swim, clinging to a post until the water subsided. She and her husband eventually reached safety in a school building and survived on bottled water — knowing she was only hours away from giving birth.

“She began labor at 5 a.m. [Monday], so we had to walk several kilometers before a truck driver hitched us a ride,” he recalled.

When a military doctor delivered the baby at what remained of Tacloban airport, other medics and survivors cheered.

“She is so beautiful,” the new mother whispered. “I will name her Bea Joy in honor of my mother, Beatrice.”

Beatrice was swept away by the typhoon and is still among the thousands missing.

The young military doctor who attended to her, Capt. Victoriano Sambale, said Sagalis’ water had already broken when the couple arrived at the airport.

She developed bleeding during the delivery, he added.

“This is the first time we have delivered a baby here. The baby is fine, and we have managed to stop the bleeding of the mother,” Sambale said.

But he said the overworked emergency medical team fear they are powerless to deal with unsterile conditions that threaten Sagalis with infection.

“We need to give her intravenous antibiotics,” Sambale said. “Unfortunately, we ran out of even the oral antibiotics yesterday.”