TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A Taiwan’s National Highway Police unit on Thursday helped rush a desperately ill infant from Hualien to National Taiwan University (NTU) Hospital in Taipei by clearing the way for the ambulance carrying the baby, according to a Central News Agency report.

A mother said in a Facebook post on Wednesday that her one-month-old baby was having an emergency medical situation that required her to transfer from Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital to NTU Hospital, a trip which would take an estimated three hours, the report said. She said her baby would be kept in an incubator with life support during the journey, pleading road users to let them pass during the journey, which encompasses traveling on the narrow and winding Suhua Highway.

According to an Apple Daily report, the infant’s grandmother said the infant was born four months premature and weighed only 860 grams. However, the baby’s stomach continued to bulge, and bowel necrosis was suspected, the grandmother added.

Therefore, a private ambulance was arranged to transport the infant from the Hualien hospital to NTU Hospital on Thursday.

National Highway Police said in a post on its Facebook fan page that they were aware of the situation from reading the posts on a Facebook’s social media page and called the mother, telling her that a highway patrol car would clear the way for the ambulance to NTU University as soon as it emerges on National Highway No. 5.

According to the Apple Daily report, the distance between the two hospitals is 175 kilometers, and the trip to transport the baby took 165 minutes, which is about half an hour to one hour sooner than it normally takes.

(Photo courtesy of the National Highway Police)