A special Christmas bundle arrived early for one Richmond Hill mother who gave birth at a Toronto gas station parking lot Thursday morning.
Xin Gao was en route to North York General Hospital during the morning commute when she knew she couldn’t make it and asked her neighbour Mary, who was driving, to stop the car at the Petro-Canada at Bayview and Cummer.
“It was just so out of my control and I was totally lost,” Gao told CTV News from her hospital bed.
Mary, who has no medical training, called 911 and helped deliver the baby as she received instructions.
The infant was born in the front seat at about 7:30 a.m.
The delivery took place around the corner from an ambulance station. When paramedics arrived minutes later, they saw the baby’s grandfather holding him.
“I handed him the pair of scissors and told him he was going to cut the umbilical cord, and he looked at me and said, ‘No, no, no, no, you do that,'” said paramedic Paul Klaehn. “I kind of said, ‘No sir, you’re going to cut the baby’s umbilical cord.’
“His hands were shaking but he did a really good job.”
Both the baby and his mother, a York University math professor, are doing fine.
Gao had intended to name her son Xingyu, which means stars in the universe, but chose Michael, because it sounds like miracle.
The baby’s father was out of town on business, but has been informed of the special delivery.
We are glad to hear that everyone is healthy. It is a good thing the baby wasn’t breach.
SOURCE:CTVNEWS
