Escondido police and firefighters are being lauded as heroes after saving a Valley Center mother and her baby.
On Feb. 22, just before 9 p.m., Anna Hanson, who was pregnant at the time, wasn’t feeling well and thought maybe her water broke.
“By the time we got to the house there was a massive amount of blood,” said her husband, Gunnar Hanson who is a pastor and former Navy SEAL.
Anna was experiencing placental abruption where the placenta lining separates from the uterus. According to the American Pregnancy Association, only 1 percent of pregnant women experience the complication, and usually the story does not end well.
Gunnar is a chaplain with Escondido SWAT and contacted his friend Escondido Police Officer Tom Love who was off-duty.
“I think I sent Officer Love a text message 'Things aren't going well I might be speeding through Escondido here in a few minutes,’” said Gunnar.
Love contacted the watch commander, Lt. Mike Kearney, who was working at the time. Kearney instructed Gunnar and Anna to head over to Fire Station 2 on Midway Drive where medics treated her and took them to the hospital.
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“Ten minutes later some nurse came out and said the baby is fine and ran back. At that point, I thought, she didn't say anything about my wife,” said Gunnar.
Anna and her baby survived the ordeal that lasted only 56 minutes. It didn’t take long for her and Gunnar to realize Love, Kearney and the firefighters at Fire Station 2 saved their lives.
“If we had gotten there one to four minutes later, it would've been a different story. And [the doctor] said, ‘We don't know how these things end, but you would've likely lost your wife and child,’” recalled Gunnar.
Gunnar and Anna have named their baby Titus. He is their fourth child and is now six weeks old.
“Titus wakes me up in the morning and I pick him up and I’m like I’m so glad you're alive. That's the biggest thing. That I'm so thankful,” said Anna.
