One Friday afternoon, Lebowakgomo, year 2008
It was a typical, but nice Friday afternoon, with nothing unusual happening that day. So this friend of mine came over. We hanged out a bit, got bored fast, then decided to give this guy a visit. He is our best friend and one of the greatest guys you could ever know. He works at Anglo Platinum in Rustenburg and he had came back home for a weekend visit. When we got there, he was bathing so we got some chairs and hanged out under a tree in the yard. Suddenly his girlfriend-to-be arrived there (now they are seeing each other, thanks to none other than, wait for it: me ;) ). He finished fast (not surprising) then joined us. The conversation was starting to pick up and we decided it would be wise for us to leave the little lovebirds alone… Got home, decided that we rather visit this super great friend of mine in Mams village about 10 minutes away, I picked up the car keys (bakkie), the lil bro hopped in for the ride, and off we went.
We arrived at his place around 2pm. We then chilled there and had a nice chat, talking about general stuff, and had a good time. Then two hours later around 4pm we decided that it was time to leave. As we were getting ready to hit the road a certain grandma came to this guys place and asked for him. They talked awhile then she left. When he came back to us he told us that she had come to ask him for transport to the hospital to take her pregnant daughter. He told her he couldn’t because he didn’t have enough petrol at that time. Now since Lebowakgomo Hospital is near where we were headed, I decided (as a good boy that I am) that we could transport her there. No problem. He quickly ran to the granny and told her that they could go with us. We then left that guy’s home and went to that house, parked the car inside and waited for this pregnant lady. Finally she came, walking slowly and clearly in distress. She couldn’t even walk on her own and she had to be escorted by her granny. She was about 28 years old, heavily pregnant and they said her delivery time was near. Now the bakkie is a single cab, so they came to the front. The granny got in first, then her daughter. Her big brother, my lil bro and that friend of mine got in the trunk of the van. Off we went.
As we drove off she was now clearly in pain. I tried to go a little slow on the gravel road, with her granny telling her to hang on a little bit, until we got to the tarred road. I got to the road and started accelerating. Immediately as I started going faster and faster, she started feeling more and more pain fast. When I got to around 100km/h, her water broke. I was like OH MY!!! Now it was full labor, and the baby was coming. Since it was a single cab and we were packed in front with windows closed, I had never ever in my life heard a woman scream like that. She SCREAMED real hard, pushing as the baby was coming, that I almost floored the accelerator. You can imagine me, poor guy, witnessing a birth, and at the same time having to concentrate on the road with all that screaming, it had to be hard. The hospital was now about 4 km away. As she was delivering and still SCREAMING pushing the baby out, we approached a T Junction and had to slow down and turn left. I did and again pressed the damn car. Now the baby was coming out, and the granny got into position, then with one final loud scream the baby popped out. At that instant, I had witnessed a birth right in front of my eyes. The granny quickly put the baby in a towel and delivered the baby to the mother’s hands. Now the mother was so relieved that she started smiling immediately and chit-chatting, and I slowed the car to about 60km/h. I cruised along, with the mother now not believing that she had just delivered, and we chatted along until we got to the hospital.
After we got there I parked at the emergency parking lot and we quickly went inside and called the nurses. They came to the car, with those metallic bowls with scissors inside, and they cut the umbilical cord. Then they took the baby inside. Later on the granny escorted the young mother inside as well while we waited outside. They admitted her while we waited. It was around 5pm that time. We waited until 9pm when the nursed finally told us that we could go because they wanted her to spend the night there for observations. Then the granny came, apologized for the wet car seat and I took her home. Then finally I went home as well.
When I got home and after telling them what had happened, they started calling me daddy. LoL. Now that was one heck of a Friday. Now I wonder what’s going to happen next ;).
August 29, 2009 at 6:53pm
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