A father, mother and newborn girl are resting and well after an emergency roadside birth in a traffic jam on a Vancouver Island highway, between Parksville and Nanaimo, yesterday.

Kyle Aplin, a Whiskey Creek resident, said partner Kelsey began having contractions Thursday night, but while they were far apart, decided it might be wise to head to Nanaimo Regional General Hospital on Friday morning. With highway traffic at a standstill due to a sinkhole in Lantzville, hospital staff advised leaving for Nanaimo early.

鈥淭hat was at 10:15 a.m., so we left shortly after and we didn鈥檛 make it very far; 15 minutes into our drive, we were stuck and contractions got worse, so we decided to call the ambulance and they were there not even five minutes later,鈥� recounted Aplin. 鈥淎s soon as they put her on the gurney, that鈥檚 when things started happening. We got 15 minutes down the road and then she gave birth on the way there.鈥�

While Rylie Jayne Aplin was born in the ambulance, with first responders on hand, there was still a long journey and wait to get to the hospital, according to Aplin.

鈥淲e pulled over at the Triple O鈥檚 at Nanoose, at the side of the highway and from right there to the hospital was 45 minutes at least,鈥� Aplin said. 鈥淓verything was good. The guy drove slow. He was very respectful and calm and made everything a lot easier for both of them.鈥�

Aplin also said the 45 minutes after Rylie鈥檚 birth was much less stressful then the time prior.

鈥淚 was definitely panicking, but they were very helpful and very calm, they made it a lot better and all the [other drivers] were nice enough to move out of the way and help other people get out of the way,鈥� said Aplin. 鈥淓veryone on the road was very supportive and helpful, trying to get us through.鈥�

It will be interesting telling Rylie the story of her birth when she鈥檚 older, said Aplin.

鈥淲e鈥檙e going to tell her that she鈥檚 a superstar,鈥� Aplin said. 鈥淗er story is all over right now and everyone鈥檚 asking about it. It was quite unexpected and quite a way to come into the world.鈥�

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reporter@nanaimobulletin.com
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