A woman from Nunavut gave birth to a premature baby in Thompson in February after a B.C. RCMP officer who is a former nurse directed the flight they were on to divert from its scheduled path and land at the nearest airport close to a hospital.
Const. Rob Renner from the West Shore RCMP detachment in B.C. fell asleep on the Feb. 20 flight and woke up when he heard an announcement asking if there were any nurses or doctors on the plane. He volunteered his services to help the mother, 28-year-old Sadie Ussak from Arviat, Nunavut who told him she was only 31 weeks pregnant.
Realizing that she was in premature labour, Renner directed the pilot to divert to the nearest airport close to a hospital, which led to the plane touching down at Thompson Airport where Ussak was met by an ambulance that transported her to Thompson General Hospital.
“He was calming me down and telling me I was going to be OK,” Ussak said in an April 24 B.C. RCMP press release. “It felt good to have him there.”
Ussak’s daughter Larissa was born just after 1 a.m. Feb. 21 in Thompson, weighing 3.5 pounds.
“I was really happy to be in the right place at the right time and able to help Mrs. Ussak get to the hospital as quick as possible to have her baby,” said Renner.
