Sometimes even an ocean won’t keep a father-to-be from his child’s birth, and last month an Oregon man showed that drive when he jumped off a crabber boat and paddled to shore so he could be with his wife during labour.
Dylan Ford told NBC affiliate KGW8 he had received a call Jan. 29 while on the boat, informing him that his wife had gone into labour.
In response, the captain of the boat told him they would drop him off as close as they could and someone would pick him up.
Being an experienced surfer, however, Ford decided not to wait and grabbed a surfboard before hopping off the boat.
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Video shows him jumping before he begins paddling to the shore. According to NBC, had he waited for the fishing boat to dock, it could have taken five to six hours instead of the 15-minute paddle he undertook.
“There was always that thought in my head I wouldn’t make it,” he said.
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In the video, his friends on the boat shouted at him, asking how the water was.
“He’s paddling in to the shore to get to his wife cause she’s having the baby,” the man filming says off-camera. “Peace out, brother. Good luck.”
Ford was picked up by his sister once he reached the shore and got to the hospital.
The good news is the rush was unnecessary as NBC reports Breaker Ford, the couple’s newborn son, didn’t arrive into the world until about 38 hours after Ford jumped in the water.
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