18-year-old lifeguard helps deliver baby on pool deck: 'Something I will never forget'

An 18-year-old lifeguard sprang into action to help deliver a baby for a couple visiting a YMCA pool in Longmont, Colorado, last week.

Natalie Lucas, who's been a lifeguard for the past three years, said it was the first time she'd had to help bring life into the world, rather than just prevent death.

"A lot of people are telling me like, 'Oh, I wouldn't have been able to do that, like I would have passed out or freaked out.' I'm like, no, I just did what I was supposed to do," Lucas told "Good Morning America."

The Longmont native was at her pool post on the morning of July 24 when she noticed Tessa Rider and Matthew Jones walk in. Rider then got into the pool, she said.

At the time, Rider was about nine months pregnant, according to ABC Denver affiliate KGMH.

"She was in the pool for about like 10 minutes, just walking around," Lucas recalled. "She had a [pool] noodle to try to relieve some tension from all that weight on the front of her, I'm assuming, and then she started crawling out of the pool about 10 minutes later and I was like, alright, I need to go check to make sure everything's OK there."

But everything was not OK, and to everyone's surprise, a more urgent situation quickly unfolded, with Rider's water breaking while she was on the pool deck.

"I walk over and Matthew, the husband, he says to me, 'We're having the baby right now.' I'm like, 'OK!' Adrenaline kicks in right then and there," Lucas said.

She added that she was "freaking out a little bit" and feeling nervous but made sure to keep herself composed.

"I knew I needed to stay calm and level-headed," the 18-year-old said. "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."

Lucas helped Rider and Jones by bringing over the center's medical supplies and towels, and calling for assistance from the front desk.

"I make sure Tessa is ... comfortable and trying to get her situated in the best position possible," Lucas said, noting that they were only about five feet away from the water. "I'm like alright, this cement ground isn't that great but let me prop her up, lean her head on the medical bag. I give some towels to Matthew, the baby comes out quite fast, like less than five minutes, I would say. It was pretty insane."

As Rider was giving birth, Lucas asked another lap swimmer nearby to call 911.

"We were on the phone with the operator, making sure that the baby was breathing, that the chest was rising and falling. I had to get a towel to clean up the baby's mouth to make sure the airway wasn't obstructed and that he had a clear [airway for] breathing. And then the paramedics came in about five minutes later after that," Lucas explained.

Luckily, baby Tobin was born without any complications -- and as KGMH reported, he now has a lifetime membership to the YMCA.

Jones told KGMH that he was grateful to have Lucas' assistance through his son's birth. "Without her, I would not have been able to safely focus my attention on making sure that Tobin came out and that he was safe and healthy," he said.

"She was there to do anything we asked," Rider told KGMH. "And the first thing I could think of was could someone hold my back up. And she did, and it was perfect."

Lucas said it was all just part of the job -- and made for a memorable day.

"I feel like I just did my job and that I did what I was supposed to do in that situation," she said. "I'm a lifeguard. I was there to help and I was there to be a lifesaver in a sense."

The teen, who's getting ready to head off to San Diego State University for college in the fall, says the whole experience made an impression on her and she plans on sending birthday cards to Tobin and staying connected with the family.

"It's definitely something I will never forget and I will tell the story many years in the future. 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," Lucas said.

"I'd like to keep in touch because this will be an experience that none of us will ever quite forget," she added.

18-year-old lifeguard helps deliver baby on pool deck: 'Something I will never forget' originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com