Wal-Mart disputes claim about birth inside store

A volunteer firefighter insists he lent a hand with the
delivery.

PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. (AP) — Wal-Mart officials disputed a newspaper report that a volunteer firefighter helped deliver a baby in a Pennsylvania store on Valentine’s Day.

David Hau told The Punxsutawney Spirit newspaper that he responded to a call for help over the public address system in Punxsutawney. He said a store manager gave him rubber gloves before he helped an Amish woman give birth about 10:30 a.m., the newspaper reported Saturday.

But the store’s assistant manager, Jen Knox, and the company’s corporate spokeswoman, Sharon Weber, told The Associated Press there was no such public announcement or store birth. Wal-Mart learned of the story when Knox read Saturday’s newspaper story.

Hau told The Associated Press on Saturday that he stands by his story. He said he has hired an attorney, who did not immediately return calls to his home and office Saturday.

Hau said he can’t release the name of the woman who gave birth under federal medical privacy laws. He and Brian Smith, the chief of the Elk Run Volunteer Fire Co. in Punxsutawney, told The Associated Press they would contact the woman to see if she’d be willing to confirm Hau’s story.

Hau said that store manager Benjamin Pfeufer gave him the rubber gloves. But Pfeufer and Knox both said Saturday that Knox was the only manager on duty that day.

Weber, the Wal-Mart spokeswoman, said there’s no story to confirm.

“I spoke with a member of management at the store and they assured me they spoke with every member of management, and they knew nothing about it,” Weber said. “I have no reason to believe it happened at all.”