Harriet Mae Magell has a birth certificate unlike others.
Born in June, she is one of the very few people in the world to have her place of birth registered as “the territorial waters of the Bailiwick of Guernsey”.
She was actually born aboard the Flying Christine III, near Jethou, after her mum went into labour two weeks early at home in Sark.
Kyla and husband Jake were at home when Kyla went into labour, just 12 hours before she was due to sail to Guernsey for a routine pre-natal check up.
Within a couple of hours she was holding her new baby.
“I remember the beginning bit, being at home, trying to get our almost one-year-old into bed and trying to get her calm,” she recalled.
“I was having what I thought was Braxton Hicks, and then all of a sudden it escalated to Dr Bruce running into our bathroom with me lying on the floor and him saying ‘we’ve got to get the ambulance’.
“The next thing I remember was walking down the stairs to the Flying Christine, and then holding her, so (my memory) jumps through the night.”
The first 999 call was made at 21:25, with the marine ambulance dispatched at 21:35. It was sailing out of St Peter Port Harbour by 22:06 and was in Sark Harbour at 22:44.
Mrs Magell gave birth to her second daughter, who weighed 9lb, at 23:11, near Jethou, before the marine ambulance docked back in St Peter Port Harbour at 23:20.
“It ran so smoothly,” said Mrs Magell. “I don’t remember a single point where I was thinking ‘what’s happening now?’ Everyone just knew what they were doing, and they were keeping me updated as we were going along, which is what I needed.”
Her husband agreed that it all went very well.
“It’s weird because you don’t feel useless, but everyone else knows what they’re doing and I was there offering support, not medically trained at all, just trying to be as helpful as possible. Especially on the boat, it’s quite small, and with the three guys actually knowing what they’re doing, I was kind of sitting on the edge, patting her head and thinking ‘well done’.”
“We’re amazingly lucky,” he added.
Dr Bruce Jenkins is Sark’s only doctor. He made the call for Mrs Magell to be transferred to Guernsey – with Sark’s Community First Responders deploying the island’s ambulance to take her to the harbour to meet the Flying Christine.
Among them were Lead CFR Glen Williams, CFR Khiya Gillingham, and Practice Nurse Hollie Davies.
Mr Williams drove the ambulance to the harbour, and helped Mrs Magell onto the Flying Christine. He was there to welcome her back home a few days later too.
“I felt privileged to take them back home to their house and they had their family waiting for them to greet them,” he said.
“I took them down to the harbour and then brought them back home and finished it full circle. We’re really privileged and it’s a nice little story.”
Dr Jenkins travelled across to Guernsey with Kyla and Jake, Paramedic Jim Cathcart and Trainee EMT Ian Ferreira.
Dr Jenkins is Sark’s GP – but having trained in South Africa, he has previously delivered hundreds of babies as part of the training and general practice requirements in the country.
The last time he delivered a baby was in 2004 but he still knew exactly what to do.
“I knew when I examined her (that the baby was coming quickly). It’s easy to be clever in retrospect and I should have probably delivered her baby at home, but in reality, it’s less stressful to have her on the way (to hospital) in case.
“When babies are born, they come when they want to come and that’s where you’ve got to know what you’re doing.
“It was uncomplicated and she was fantastic the whole time the whole way through.”
For Trainee EMT Ferreira, who has since returned to work in the UK after an agency placement in Guernsey, helping to deliver a baby aboard a boat is “something I’ll always remember” he said.
“I’m very grateful to have been part of such a special moment. Seeing a new life come into the world in such unique circumstances was an incredible experience and, without doubt, one of the highlights of my journey as a student EMT.”
The Flying Christine III is the marine ambulance serving the Bailiwick of Guernsey.
Based in St Peter Port Harbour it is deployed to pick up patients from Alderney, Sark, and Herm, as well as the private islands of Jethou and Brecqhou if needed.
Funded entirely by charitable donations and crewed by volunteers, the Flying Christine III is fully kitted out like a road ambulance, explained Paramedic Jim Cathcart, who helped to deliver Harriet.
“It’s got everything on board that we would need.
“We were able to lay out all the maternity kit and be ready with everything set out like you would have in a maternity ward. That night we actually had two maternity bags with us because I bought a spare bag, and I’m pleased I did because when we walked up to the harbour here (Sark), I was able to take one bag with me. But everything that you would need, everything you would find in a normal road ambulance is on the Flying Christine.”
Mr Cathcart also praised the volunteer crew of the Flying Christine who returned to Sark earlier this week to meet baby Harriet.
“They give up their time and their expertise free of charge. They’re all experienced mariners, and you know they are just brilliant.
“They keep calm, they do the job just to get us safely where we need to be and the patient safely back to Guernsey. We couldn’t do it without them, and without the support we get from the community in terms of funding.”
The marine ambulance Coxswain Andy Lowe said he and the crew were pleased to be back to meet the family again.
“I feel really honoured to have been on the boat crew for such a lovely and memorable event.
“It was my second time to have a baby born on board from a Sark call out,” he added.
The last time a baby was born aboard the Flying Christine III was in 2008.
Expectant mothers in Sark and Alderney are often brought to Guernsey ahead of their due dates incase of any complications.
Both Harriet and the child born in 2008 are from Sark, while an Alderney child was born on a medevac flight to Guernsey in 2011.
