His mother Shay Walsh, of Kakanui, recalled it on Thursday.
On August 12, at the stop sign at the intersection of Thousand Acre Rd and State Highway 1, about 5km from Oamaru Hospital, at 3.20pm, with his mother in the passenger seat, his father, Marty Mcwhirter, sitting in the driver’s seat, turned to Miss Walsh and said "What do I do?"
"And I said ‘catch!’" Miss Walsh said.
Maverick, 6lb 10oz, was cuddled by his mother as Mr Mcwhirter drove them to the hospital.
She laughed as she recalled her partner’s concern their new boy was not seated in a car seat.
It was the second time Miss Walsh had been at the hospital that day; about 10am experiencing "very fast and strong pains, all in my back" she went in for an internal exam but was told she was not in labour — "you’ll know when the pain gets worse".
She was sent home at 11am and told to get some sleep. At 3pm her water broke and she was back in the car, racing to the hospital.
"We got to the shop in Kakanui and I said ‘We need an ambulance’, and Marty said ‘No, I can get there quicker.’
"And he tried."
While the pain during the day had been excruciating — "I thought I was dying" — the birth was easy.
Cars streamed past on the highway in front of them and Mr Mcwhirter asked, "What if someone pulls up behind us?"
"And I said, ‘They will wait.’"
Maverick, happy and healthy, was now "best mates" with his brother Dante Crafts and sister Kimberlee Mcwhirter, both 10.
On the night of the day he was born, Miss Walsh decided to write down her thoughts.
"So, my day’s been very weird," her story begins.
She signs off with some advice to women.
"Always listen to your body, ladies."
