You would think that spending a day at the pool would be a fun and relaxing time, but there was one Sunday at the YMCA that turned out to be quite unusual. In fact, one of the teenage lifeguards has a story that they can tell for a lifetime.
Natalie Lucas was 18 years old at the time and she was working at the YMCA as a lifeguard in Longmont, Colorado. She had been a lifeguard for three years and didn’t think much of it when a couple came to the pool area while she was working.
One thing she did notice was that the woman was very pregnant, so she watched her carefully as she got into the shallow end of the pool. The woman’s name is Tessa Rider and she was nine months pregnant when she was at the pool.
She had nerve pain and she came to the pool with her husband, Matthew Jones, a few times a week to get some relief. On this particular visit, she was already past her due date and it was one of the only places she felt comfortable.
As she was paddling around the pool, she suddenly realized that something wasn’t right. Natalie noticed that something was off when she came out of the pool, so she went over to see how they were.
Suddenly, Tessa’s water broke on the pool deck and she was in active labor almost immediately. She said: “I walk over and Matthew, the husband, he says to me, ‘We’re having the baby right now.’ I’m like, ‘OK!”
That is when the adrenaline kicked in. While Matthew called 911, Tessa was trying to get the mother’s bathing suit off and the baby’s head was growling. She called to the front desk and grabbed a medical kit and as many clean towels as possible. Through it all, she remain calm and focused on the mother.
Natalie said: “I knew I needed to stay calm and level-headed. 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.”
Within five minutes, Matthew was holding his son right on the pool deck. The 911 operator helped them to clear the airways of the baby and make sure he was breathing. She then used her own back to prop up the new mother until the paramedics arrived.
Not only are Matthew and Tessa thankful for what Natalie did, they were also given a clean bill of health, as was their new baby, Tobin.
Natalie, who is going to be attending college in the fall said that she was happy she could just be there to help.
“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.”
