As the saying goes, “it takes a village …”
That is certainly true of how a couple of paramedics, a doughnut shop owner and a mother giving birth in a parking lot have now formed a family bond.
“Hello! Can I hug you?” says young mother Deb Darling.
“Yes, absolutely!” replies paramedic Liz Kalnins.
Meeting for the first time since the birth of their son Myles, mom Deb Darling and dad Kevin Monk meet the paramedics who helped deliver their baby in the parking lot of the Coffee Way Donuts at Division Street and Concession Street in Kingston.
It was just before 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 8, when baby Myles made his hasty appearance.
The couple thought they had all the time in the world to get to Kingston General Hospital from Sydenham.
And it isn’t the couple’s first child; they have a four-year-old daughter, Avery, who was born after a 48-hour labour.
This time very different.
“Into the back of the ambulance and then he was out,” says Darling. “I’m not even sure they had the doors closed.”
“Usually it’s not as imminent as it was this time,” says paramedic Andrew Liersch. “Usually we have lots of time.”
Liersch and Kalnins, along with two other colleagues from the Frontenac Paramedic Services, all helped deliver baby Myles.
“This time we showed up and could see Deb was already ready to go,” says Liersch.
“The baby was coming,” says Kalnins.
“That was definitely a surprise. Wasn’t expecting that one,” added Liersch.
Coffee Way Donuts owner Chris Brzezinski now calls himself the Godfather — baking the Myles blue topped doughnut in honour of his birth.
Monk has been a customer for the last 25 years.
“He said, ‘it’s a baby boy. I need my eclair now! I’m so stressed!'”
Everyone in this story says that the events on that October morning have now formed a lifelong connection — a new family of complete strangers.
At birth, Myles weighed seven pounds, seven ounces.