Long Island Couple Thanks First Responders After Scary Delivery

YAPHANK, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A Long Island couple got the chance to thank the first responders who help deliver their baby boy.

Mike Pappalardo could not hold back his tears Thursday as he thanked the 911 dispatchers, EMS workers and Suffolk County police officers for not only helping to deliver his little baby boy Bryce, but for saving his life.

Back in August, his wife's water broke and the couple quickly realized they weren't going to make it to the hospital.

With Mike on the phone with the dispatcher, Jane Pappalardo delivered the baby on the kitchen floor in their home in Mount Sinai.

But little Bryce was born with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck and he was not breathing.

Mike Pappalardo said the dispatcher helped them through the tense delivery and described him as "the calm during our storm."

"Without you I don't think we would have been able to deliver properly. You were calm, you were collected," Mike Pappalardo told the dispatcher Thursday. "I think I probably cursed at you several times but he was unbelievable and he really taught us what we needed to do just to get through it."

Officer Jon Erik Negron was first on the scene.

"We were able to clear the baby's airway, he started breathing and it was the most unbelievable sound I ever heard," he said.

Bryce is now a happy and healthy five-month-old boy, but Pappalardo said he can't help but think about how differently it could have ended.

"If they weren't there that minute what would happen? Would he have brain damage? Would he not be with us? So that's the part that gets me upset because I know that they did an amazing job," Pappalardo said. "This whole county came together to save a baby's life."