Rookie RCMP officer helps deliver baby in B.C. hospital parking lot
A rookie cop attended a different type of emergency Monday after running toward the sound of screaming in a parking lot.
Const. Sise Odaa, with the Chilliwack, B.C., RCMP, was at the Chilliwack General Hospital for an unrelated report when she heard the yelling.
Odaa, who just joined the detachment six months ago, rushed outside to help, the Upper Fraser Valley Regional Detachment said in a news release Thursday.
What she found was Chilliwack woman Chayne Den Ouden in labour.
“When we got to the parking lot my mom asked if I needed a wheelchair but I said, 'No I’m good,'” Den Ouden told CTV News.
“But then I walked maybe 20 feet and had another contraction was hunched over."
As Den Ouden’s mom went to get the wheelchair, chaos ensued.
“I realized, 'Oh no, the baby's coming,'” she said.
“So I reached down and started grabbing her. Meanwhile a man was walking by and said, 'Are you OK?' I said, 'No I'm having a baby!'"
Odaa heard the commotion, and jumped into action.
"She heard the yelling and thought, 'OK there's something going on so I better go assist,'” Den Ouden said.
Little Sahara Acacia Den Ouden did not wait for her mom to get inside the hospital.
"When she got there, there was my mom catching Sahara, and she was there to support us and help us with what we needed, it was pretty special."
Den Ouden and Sahara were quickly taken into the hospital. She says they’re now home, healthy and happy.
Odaa called it an "amazing experience," and said in a statement that she joined the RCMP to help people.
"(I'm) so happy that I was able to help in this very special way."
Sahara Acacia Den Ouden is shown in a photo provided by her family to CTV News.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
They were from different countries and barely spoke each other's languages. More than 20 years later, they're still happily in love
He decided to spend Christmas somewhere that wouldn't involve snowstorm disasters. She was spending the holidays with family, travelling for the first time outside of her native country of Venezuela. Both weren't expecting to meet someone special the night they crossed paths at a bar in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic.
Man who set himself on fire outside Trump trial dies of injuries, police say
A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former U.S. President Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said.
12 students and teacher killed in Columbine school shooting remembered at 25th anniversary vigil
Thirteen victims of the Columbine High School shooting were remembered during a vigil Friday on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the shooting that was the worst the nation had seen at the time.
Young people 'tortured' if stolen vehicle operations fail, Montreal police tell MPs
One day after a Montreal police officer fired gunshots at a suspect in a stolen vehicle, senior officers were telling parliamentarians that organized crime groups are recruiting people as young as 15 in the city to steal cars so that they can be shipped overseas.
Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza city of Rafah kills at least 9 Palestinians, including 6 children
An Israeli airstrike on a house in Gaza's southernmost city killed at least nine people, six of them children, hospital authorities said Saturday, as Israel pursued its nearly seven-month offensive in the besieged Palestinian territory.
Mandisa, Grammy award-winning 'American Idol' alum, dead at 47
Soulful gospel artist Mandisa, a Grammy-winning singer who got her start as a contestant on 'American Idol' in 2006, has died, according to a statement on her verified social media. She was 47.
Iraq investigates a blast at a base of Iran-allied militias that killed 1. U.S. denies involvement
Iraqi authorities said Saturday that they were investigating an explosion that struck a base belonging to the Popular Mobilization Forces, a coalition of Iran-allied militias, killing one person and injuring eight.
The House is on the brink of approving aid for Ukraine and Israel after months of struggle
The House is preparing in a rare Saturday session to approve US$95 billion in foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel and other U.S. allies.
'It was joy': Trapped B.C. orca calf eats seal meat, putting rescue on hold
A rescue operation for an orca calf trapped in a remote tidal lagoon off Vancouver Island has been put on hold after it started eating seal meat thrown in the water for what is believed to be the first time.