Shannon Bird with her daughter London. Photo / Instagram
A desperate US mother-of-five called 911 for help after she found herself stuck at home in the middle of the night with no way to feed her newborn daughter.
In the audio, recorded at 2am, an emotional Shannon Bird cries as she tells the dispatcher that her breast milk haddried up and she had no formula to feed her 6-week-old.
Bird, from Utah, said that her husband was away for work and she was caring for the couple's five children alone, including the newborn and another young child with a broken leg.
"I've been calling neighbours and no one will answer," she said.
"I've never been in this predicament ever. My milk just literally dried out. This is my fifth kid and this has never happened."
She revealed that her daughter London was breastfed and there was no formula in the house.
"She was screaming," Bird later told KSLTV. "I called my husband and we were brainstorming. I started calling neighbours and teenagers in the area and my little brother and no one was awake."
Officers with the Lone Peak Police responded to her cry for help, with Officer Brett Wagstaff making a mercy dash to the stressed mum.
Unfortunately, Officer Wagstaff came clutching a bottle of cow's milk, before realising his mistake and doubling back to the store.
"We'll leave this with you," Wagstaff said as he handed Bird the milk. "We'll be right back with some formula for your baby — she's adorable."
When Wagstaff and his partner returned he told Bird that he had given the formula to his own daughter and refused any payment.
"I was not expecting them to go get that food for me," Bird said, revealing that she thought police would watch her house while she went to buy formula.
A spokesman for the Lone Peak Police Department praised the officer's actions on the night.
"Most of us, we got on this job to help people, and this was an example of helping out a mother that was in need," said officer Dave Ventrano.
"To this mom, this is a priority for her," he said. "It's been about protect and serve. This is part of the serve. We are here to serve the public."