People can see a lot of things at an airport in the space of a day, no question. However, flyers crowded into the Tampa International Airport last May witnessed the surprise of a lifetime. All were tending to their busy schedules when an official service dog decided it was time to give birth to her litter, right there in the middle of the airport!

While the last thing that most people want out of an airport experience is an unexpected surprise, this one was more than welcome. Everyone in the airport dropped what they were doing to watch the miracle happen.

Or, maybe miracles would be more appropriate, as the service dog gave birth to a whopping eight puppies!

Eleanor Rigby (Ellie, for short), is the beautiful Labrador retriever service dog that surprised Tampa flyers that day with the magical birth of her large litter of puppies.

The sweet service dog was waiting with her human, Diane Van Atter, and her mate, Golden Nugget, the expectant father-to-be of her litter. They were simply passing the time until their flight number was called when Ellie suddenly went into labor right on the floor in front of the Gasparilla Bar in TIA.

The crowded airport seemed to come to a screeching halt as Ellie labored to bring her tiny babes into the world.

Not willing to leave his mate to go it alone, Golden Nugget hovered over Ellie with a look of mild anxiety. He was going to be there as each one of his uber adorable puppies were pulled from their mother’s womb.

The unexpected event had every traveler’s attention. While most days there is nothing that can distract a tired traveler from impatiently waiting to board their flight, that day everyone dropped what they were doing. It just goes to show that when it comes to puppies, everyone wants to be part of the fun.

As a matter of fact, onlookers were so enthralled by the unexpected scene unfolding before them that they didn’t even give their flight schedules a second thought.

The entire birth from start to finish held everyone’s attention for over three hours!

“I was here since puppy five. It’s on Instagram; We’re getting a lot of likes,” one of standersby told FoxNews13 reporters.

As it turned out, more than just one passenger was keeping the world updated on the service dog’s live birth. Another onlooker by the name of Kristin Hamilton took to her Instagram feed to share the news with the world.

“A Service Dog named Ellie, short for Eleanor Rigby caused quite a stir at Tampa airport yesterday. The two-year-old yellow lab went into labor before boarding a plane to Philadelphia. Tampa Fire Rescue delivered seven puppies; 6 girls and one boy. Congratulation to the new mom and safe travels,” she wrote.

The details may have been a bit misleading, but they weren’t too far off the mark. Ellie delivered a litter of 8 pups, not 7, and it was composed mostly of males, not females. In fact, there was only one little girl pup to come out of the litter, and she came last.

The birth never would have gone so smoothly had it not been for the Tampa Fire & Rescue paramedics who arrived on the scene to help Ellie through her big, busy, public moment. To show her immense gratitude to the paramedics who made sure her baby stayed safe while delivering her babies, Van Atter named each of the pups after them.

“They have our names of course! And of course, the last one’s Natalie, it’s a girl!” said one of the paramedics, Natalie Brown, to reporters.

“And Number two is Larry,” added Natalie’s coworker, Larry Glanton, who also aided in the delivery.

Thanks to the amazing work of the paramedics, Ellie and Golden Nugget are now the proud parents of 7 boys and 1 girl. Van Atter and her now 10 dogs weren’t able to fly back home after all. However, they were more than happy to pile into a rental together for the long road trip home to Pennsylvania.

We are so happy for Ellie, Golden Nugget, and Van Atter for the happy additions to their family. To learn more about this amazing story, watch the video below.

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Source: Shareably