On the eve of her daughter’s 17th birthday, Nicole Arslanbas contacted the Hamden Fire Department to ask about the two firemen who helped her give birth in a parking lot 17 years ago.
Over the phone, Nicole shared she was thinking about her daughter growing older and began to wonder if the two men were still with the Hamden Fire Dept.
“I reached out to the Hamden Fire Facebook Page, just to find out if they were still working there, that was really my only intent and to wish them well,” she said.
On Friday morning, the Hamden Fire Dept. shared a photo of Chief Jeffrey Naples, who was an EMT back then, and of Lieutenant Scott Blake, a paramedic at the time, with Nicole and her baby in the hospital alongside a photo of Nicole’s now 17-year-old daughter, Caroline.
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The Facebook post drew in a significant amount of responses from the community.
Hamden Fire Chief Jeffrey Naples and Lt. Scott Blake said they were delightfully surprised when they initially saw the post.
“One of the guys next to me said “hey, look at this, I looked at it and said, 'who’s that young guy?' And it was myself and the chief and then we saw the picture of the girl we assisted in delivering and she was a young woman,” Lt. Blake said.
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Although 17 years have passed, Lt. Blake and Chief Naples said it's an experience they will never forget.
“This is a unique situation, time has flown by, we were just talking about how fast 17 years go, we have children of our own now, we rose here within the ranks of our own department, which we’re grateful for that opportunity and we love being able to serve this community here in Hamden,” said Chief Naples.
“The whole family was there, we were there, it was something we’d never experienced before in the field, we’ve done it obviously clinically and we’re trained to do it but now having kids of our own, we can appreciate how special it was,” added Lt. Blake.
Nicole, whose children are now mostly all grown up, said she will always be thankful for the two men who helped her family that day.
"I've gotten to see my daughter grow over the years and I think it's great they both have grown so much in their career and now they are in leadership with the Hamden Fire Dept."
