The Cochrane Firehall Baby, the medical team that delivered her, and her biological mother gathered for an emotional reunion on Sept. 24 to commemorate a fateful event 40 years ago.
The group told their story from the vacant lot on 2nd Ave. across from the Cochrane FCSS office. Cochrane Fire Services personnel and Coun. Marni Fedeyko attended the event and gave a warm welcome on behalf of the Town.
In the early 1980s, Cochrane did not have local ambulance service. Medical emergencies would be handled by Cochrane Fire Services while EMS would be dispatched from Calgary. Cochrane’s fire chief at the time, Brian Winter, and private physician Dr. Dennis Fundytus would communicate with each other through pagers in the event of medical emergencies.
On Sept. 23, 1982, they were notified of a young lady from Toronto who was going into labour. With no choice, they rushed to the firehall kitchen to perform the delivery. The baby girl who was born, Kristi Perrault, would be nicknamed the “Cochrane Firehall Baby” in the years to come.
“Story goes, soup was cooking on the stove,” said Dr. Fundytus. “Basically, the firefighters got kicked out of the kitchen and their lunch had to wait. Kris [the mother] was up on the table and shortly after, Kristi was delivered.”
EMS arrived shortly after and transported Perrault, her mother, and Dr. Fundytus to Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary. It was there that Perrault’s mother decided to make the difficult decision to place her newborn baby up for adoption.
Perrault, now a mother and nurse, was adopted by a family five days after being born. She grew up six hours from Calgary.
She says her story of reuniting with her biological family began in 2004, after the province opened adoption records up to the public. After a few months and five phone calls, she got in touch with her biological aunt, who provided her with the contact info for her biological mother.
“I was accepted immensely into another family, realized I had a brother and a sister, growing up as an only child and I’m enterally grateful for the life she gave me and the life she gave my parent,” Perrault said on Saturday, while fighting back tears. “So, thank you so much.”
Forty years later, Perrault fatefully re-connected with Dr. Fundytus as the assigned nurse for his required treatment at the Foothills Medical Centre. Everyone was soon assembled to hold the reunion and share their story.
“I think it’s truly remarkable,” Perrault said. “I thought this was going to be a small reunion, but here we are and I’m so excited to be reunited with everyone here.”
Winter looks back on the events that transpired and was proud to be part of the emotional reunion.
“I think it was very good,” Winter said. “Mom was emotional, Kristi was emotional, and Dr. Fundytus was emotional because he developed a bond between the biological mom and daughter. It’s just a feel-good story.”
Dr. Fundytus described the day as spectacular and was happy to be a part of the joyous occasion. As someone who wore many hats to bring the event together, he is grateful for the support of everyone involved.
“The cooperation from Cochrane Fire Services and Calgary EMS made this a better event than we would have envisioned, along with support from the Cochrane community,” Dr. Fundytus said.
Of the 24 former volunteer firefighters who served alongside Winter when he helped deliver Perrault in 1982, two were present for the event. Four have since passed away.
“Besides what we had here, I had two other volunteers who couldn’t make it,” Winter said. “And the others are still around, but I don’t know where they are.”
Winter extends an invitation to the former volunteer firefighters who were alongside him when Perrault was born. Winters can be contacted at 403-818-9703.
