What should have been a regular Sunday at the YMCA turned into a day one teenage lifeguard will never forget!
Eighteen-year-old Natalie Lucas has been working as a lifeguard at the YMCA in Longmont, Colorado for the past three years. Recently, a couple entered the pool area while she was on duty. The woman was very pregnant, so Natalie kept a close eye on her as she eased herself into the shallow end of the pool.
Tessa Rider was nine months pregnant that day. She and her husband, Matthew Jones, came to the pool a few times that week to ease the discomfort of a nerve pain. Past her due date, the pool was one of the few places where the mom-to-be felt remotely comfortable.
As Tessa paddled around in the pool, she suddenly realized something was happening. Natalie noticed she looked off as Tessa climbed out of the pool, so she went over to check on the couple. That’s when Tessa’s water broke right there on the pool deck and, before she knew it, she was already in active labor.
“I walk over and Matthew, the husband, he says to me, ‘We’re having the baby right now.’ I’m like, ‘OK!'” Natalie recalled. “Adrenaline kicks in right then and there.”
Matthew called 911, but as he spoke to the operator he knew it was too late. Tessa was already pulling her bathing suit off, and the baby’s head was crowning. Tessa quickly notified the front desk then grabbed the medical kit and as many clean towels as she could carry. Throughout it all, she told herself to remain calm and focus on caring for Tessa.
“I knew I needed to stay calm and level-headed,” Natalie said. “The couple was very calm about it all while it was all happening, which kind of surprised me. So I made sure to keep my head on and stay with them, keep asking them questions, keep them focused on the baby and [make sure] that they [were] the most comfortable.”
Less than five minutes later, Matthew caught his newborn son as he was born on the pool deck.
After working with the 911 operator to clear the baby’s airway and ensure he was breathing, Natalie used her back to prop up the new mom until paramedics arrived. Once there, baby Tobin Thomas Rider received a clean bill of health!
Matthew and Tessa are both grateful that Natalie was there to help them when they needed an extra set of hands. They say that, in spite of all the excitement at his birth, Tobin is a quiet, easy-going baby so far.
As for Natalie, who will head off to college at San Diego State University in the fall, she says she’s just glad she was able to “be a lifesaver,” one way or another!
“It’s definitely something I will never forget and I will tell the story many years in the future,” she said. “But this experience has definitely opened my eyes and kind of [made me] realize just how amazing women can be … like, wow, that anything can really happen and it’s pretty cool to experience that with someone and be there with them.”
Both Natalie and the couple plan to stay in touch now. They’re definitely bonded for life after an unforgettable experience like this one.
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