Fatherly instincts kicked in for taxi driver Fiu Lisona Liva after a woman he had just picked up for an emergency dash to the hospital gave birth en route. He knew his duty was to help the mother and baby reach the hospital safely.

It was around 1.30 am on Tuesday when the phone rang at the Lalelei Taxi Stand. Fiu who is also the owner of the stand was there with an elderly driver. 

When the call came Fiu said he wasn’t aware of the woman's condition, thinking it was just another passenger.

But when he drove up the Palisi hills to pick up the passengers he saw the husband carrying the woman and realised it was an emergency.

Fiu had driven 20 meters away from the family home, he could hear the woman was already in labour and a minute later she gave birth inside his car. 

“The father was panicking and it was now up to me to quickly take them to the hospital to help the mother,” he said in an interview with the Samoa Observer. 

“It was a different experience and as a father, I know how difficult it is for a mother to be in labour under such circumstances. 

“My priority was to make sure the baby and mother were safe and I didn’t care about the mess left inside the car. that can be fixed but losing a life cannot.” 

Upon arrival at the Moto’otua hospital, Fiu said the health officials were extremely professional and quickly took the mother and newborn baby inside. 

He didn’t care about his taxi getting paid for the service or the mess that was left behind, the driver was more happy to have been able to be part of this newborn’s delivery. 

Since that incident earlier this week, the taxi stand owner said his car hasn’t been on the road as it was being cleaned and dried properly before hitting the road again.

He stressed the importance of taxi drivers responding to members of the public, especially during graveyard hours which is often avoided by drivers for safety reasons. 

Had he not gotten behind the wheel, Fiu said it would have been a matter of life or death for the newborn and mother. 

The taxi driver said he had one request to the parents of the newborn to name their child after his taxi stand, Lalelei to serve as a memory.

Fiu added there are many reports about poor service from taxis not delivering the services to the public. He encouraged fellow drivers to remember why their businesses were established, to serve.

The Lalelei Taxi Stand is an expansion of the original Lalelei o Atua Stand which operates out of the Aleipata district and now has branches in Apia including Palisi.