It's a story that has played out for centuries among Christians, of a child born this time of year, in the humblest of circumstances, and then rose to save mankind from its own foibles.

That old story, with its own modern plot, brought the Christmas spirit alive on Friday when a child of Chinese descent was born inside a Philadelpia train with the help of two transit cops.

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He was named Kris Li, to honor his coming into this world on Christmas day.

His young parents, Yanjin Li and Binqing, who had moved to Philadelphia from Fujian, China eight years before, were rushing to the Hahneman University Hospital on Thursday afternoon just as Yanjin was experiencing uterine contractions.

The Chinese couple hurriedly boarded a train that chugged its way toward Center City but before they could reach the hospital, Yanjin went into intense labor as the train approached 15th and Market Streets.

Two transit cops, Sgt. Daniel Caban and Officer Darrel James, came aboard to assist within minutes of learning about the medical emergency, springing to action to help the young mother deliver her bundle of joy around 6 p.m., right on 15th Street El stop.

Medics also arrived on the scene but by then the two officers were already holding the Christmas baby in their arms and wrapping it warm.

Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority (SEPTA) Police Chief Thomas Nestel III commended his officers for their quick response, saying transit cops are trained to handle emergency deliveries "but you never expect to have to use it."

The modern-day Christmas story panned out to Friday when the two cops, in an act reminiscent of the fabled three kings, brought gifts to baby Kris at the hospital: a T-shirt and a SEPTA stuffed toy train.

Yanjin, 27, thanked the two officers as she recounted her "scary" experience delivering baby Kris in a train car. The three posed for a selfie with baby Kris.

Sgt. Caban wasn't supposed to be working Christmas as his fianceé had requested him to take the day off, but he went to work anyway, and felt glad to have had the chance to experience a Christmas train birth.

"It's a miracle," he capped it -- simply, aptly.

TagsChristmas baby, Kris Li, septa, Philadelphia train birth