After Mom in Labor Realizes Hospital Is Too Far Away, Off-Duty Firefighters Deliver Baby at Fire Station

By Amanda Thomason April 26, 2021 at 5:32pm

Charlie Teal Dyck has quite the story surrounding his arrival into this world. On April 10, Randi and Peter Dyck of Alberta rushed to the hospital in Calgary.

Mom Randi had started having contractions, but she realized they wouldn’t make it to the hospital on time. This was baby number four for Randi, and he wasn’t going to wait any longer.

“By the time we were on the road, it was not looking good for us making it,” she told Global News.

“I said, ‘We can’t go on the highway because we’re not going to be able to pull over on the highway and that’ll be a disaster.'”

So Peter quickly pulled into the closest safe haven: a fire station.

The crew happened to be outside training when the parents drove up.

“Peter thought fast (while driving fast) and pulled into the fire station near Balzac, ran in to find the crew while I tried not to push in the parking lot, and we made it to some mats they laid on the floor for me just in time for Charlie to come bursting out in one push!” Randi later wrote, according to a post shared by XL 103 Calgary.

Fire Captain Devin Teal caught baby Charlie, though — despite his many experiences — he had never done anything quite like that before.

“I’ve never witnessed a childbirth,” he said. “It was the first time I’ve actively been involved in the delivery of a baby, so I guess I could say it went well.”

Peter and Randi also must have thought it went well considering, as they had a very special request for the captain who’d caught their child.

“We hadn’t settled on a middle name beforehand, so Peter asked the Captain who caught Charlie if we could use his last name,” Randi wrote.

He agreed, and the newest little one became Charlie Teal.

“Our midwife made it a few minutes after he was born, and we hung out and did all the postpartum things and caught up on paperwork right there on our mats between the fire trucks and were home cozy a few hours later!” Randi continued. “And now I have an ‘oh yeah? beat this!’ story for life.”

“I’ve been doing this for 42 years and have only been involved in two deliveries,” Rocky View County Fire Services Chief Randy Smith said. “Our crews are very professional and, of course, I’m very proud of them, as always.

“Anyone in medical distress should call 911,” he added. “Regardless of whether you’re driving into the hospital or not, it allows the coordination of fire and ambulance to help to assist you.”

Thankfully all went well and mother and baby are safe and healthy.

Despite the circumstances surrounding little Charlie’s birth, he seems to be a very chill baby.

“He barely cries,” Randi said. “He got all of his drama out of the way in his birth, I guess.”

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