The Amazing Birth of Lucy Grace
Title
The Amazing Birth of Lucy Grace
Creator
Description
A crippling snow storm in November 2014 made driving impossible in parts of South Buffalo. Cars were literally buried in snow. The roads to Mercy Hospital were impassible.
Two miles away from the hospital, Bethany Hojnacki went into labor. Her husband Jared began a desperate search for help, trudging through the snow while carrying his 19 month old son to the boy's anxious grandparents a mile away.
Jared spotted a Buffalo fire crew assisting stranded motorists. Against all odds, one of them, Denise Perry, happened to be a labor nurse! Another close by was Stacey Braymiller, a maternity nurse!
The firehouse was reachable and Bethany was transported there with contractions four minutes apart. With the help of the nurses, Bethany gave birth to Lucy Grace after just two pushes.
Bethany explains that Lucy means "illuminated." She says her baby's name represents "grace illuminated," which she says "really does capture how she came into the world." Nurse Denise Perry believes it was divine intervention.
WIVB-TV senior correspondent Rich Newberg revisited the Hojnacki's for Lucy Grace's first birthday. Bethany says Lucy is "very passionate and spunky and also kind of dramatic." The parents liken her personality to her birth. In Jared's words, "very dramatic and full of life!"
Two miles away from the hospital, Bethany Hojnacki went into labor. Her husband Jared began a desperate search for help, trudging through the snow while carrying his 19 month old son to the boy's anxious grandparents a mile away.
Jared spotted a Buffalo fire crew assisting stranded motorists. Against all odds, one of them, Denise Perry, happened to be a labor nurse! Another close by was Stacey Braymiller, a maternity nurse!
The firehouse was reachable and Bethany was transported there with contractions four minutes apart. With the help of the nurses, Bethany gave birth to Lucy Grace after just two pushes.
Bethany explains that Lucy means "illuminated." She says her baby's name represents "grace illuminated," which she says "really does capture how she came into the world." Nurse Denise Perry believes it was divine intervention.
WIVB-TV senior correspondent Rich Newberg revisited the Hojnacki's for Lucy Grace's first birthday. Bethany says Lucy is "very passionate and spunky and also kind of dramatic." The parents liken her personality to her birth. In Jared's words, "very dramatic and full of life!"
Date
2014-11
2015-11
Publisher
Buffalo & Erie County Public Library (publisher of digital)
WIVB (Television Station : Buffalo, N.Y.)
Rights
Copyright held by WIVB-TV. Access to this digital version provided by the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Videos or images in this collection are not to be used for any commercial purposes without the expressed written permission of WIVB-TV and the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Users of this website are free to utilize material from this collection for non-commercial and educational purposes.
Type
Moving Image
Format
video/mp4
Language
Collection
Citation
Newberg, Rich, “The Amazing Birth of Lucy Grace,” B&ECPL Digital Collections, accessed December 5, 2025, https://digital.buffalolib.org/document/17434.