Red Arrow Motorcoach has announced the birth of a baby aboard one of its buses at a stop in Lethbridge recently, with assistance from one of the company’s drivers.
Driver Shawn Coulter has been with Red Arrow for less than a month, and said this was not the kind of delivery he is used to on the job.
“I’ve delivered many passengers to where they need to go in my lifetime,” said Coulter in a Thursday news release, “but never a baby.”
On Nov. 29, Coulter said his bus was preparing to depart from a stop at the University of Lethbridge when a passenger ran up to the front of the bus and said his wife was giving birth in the bathroom.
According to Red Arrow, Coulter pulled the bus over, called 911 and rushed to the back to help using instructions from the 911 operator.
Paramedics arrived on scene in time to guide the baby into his first minutes of life.
“It was obviously not the first time for the paramedic. He reminded me of a quarterback on one knee ready to receive the ball,” said Coulter, who added that he cranked up the heat to keep mom and baby comfortable following the delivery.
John Stepovy, the director of sales and business development with Red Arrow, said Coulter exemplified the company’s core values.
“We’re so proud of Shawn for jumping right in to help,” said Stepovy.
Due to the unusual birth, mom Jen McCallum said the couple changed course on the name they had originally planned for their son.
“We changed the boy’s name after being born on Red Arrow,” she said. “We were going to name him Darius Axel but we changed it to Darius Arrow.”
The family is now at home in Calgary for the holidays.
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