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HEADLINES

The "Miracle" Baby
 Former Gaiter Derek Schumann and his 417 baby
 August 1, 2003   Bishop's Sports Information

The “417 baby”. That’s the moniker the press has dubbed the child. But when you get all the harrowing details from proud father Derek Schumann, “Miracle baby” seems much more appropriate.

Schumann, you will remember, was a free safety for the football Gaiters from ’86-’90, an All-Canadian in 1988 and played on some of the fiercest Gaiters defenses of all time with CFLer’s Leroy Blugh and Tom Europe.

On the field Schumann was known for his bone crunching hits on opposing players, playing a punishing style of football that decimated Redmen and Stingers alike.

But Schumann’s most recent accomplishment, beside his wife Angela Morris’ clutch fourth quarter delivery, is perhaps the greatest story of them all.

The “miracle baby” is Trenton Nicholas Schumann, born on July 23, 2003 at 10:02 pm. But the story of Trenton’s birth begins a little earlier that day.

At 6:30 p.m. Angela began to feel some mild cramping. The couple already has three children and knew that this was a precursor to birth, so they decided to rent some videos in preparation for a long night, waiting for the contractions to begin.
At approximately 9:15, Angela informs Derek that she believes labor is on its way and the couple leave their home in Ottawa's south end to the Civic Hospital.
As they drive towards the hospital, Derek decides to stop for a coffee as Angela informs him that the contractions are only three to five minutes apart and they still have plenty of time. But as the pull out of the parking lot, Derek notices that Angela’s contractions are only 20-30 seconds apart. Derek tells his wife not to worry, picks up the pace in his sports utility vehicle, and proceeds to drive in the wrong direction to the hospital.

Realizing his mistake, Derek turns around and pulls onto the 417 highway, hitting speeds of up to 175 km/h as he charges towards the hospital. Derek is weaving in and out of traffic, barreling down the highway as he notices Angela bracing herself in the passenger seat.

And that’s when Trenton decided to arrive. Angela, without doctors, midwife, drugs or even a bed to lie down in, delivered little Trenton right there in the front seat of the couple’s SUV as Derek drove down the 417.

"She's telling me 'it's coming, it's coming' and I am just trying to get to the hospital as fast as I can," says Schumann. "And then she's saying the head is out, and I look over and she has this glistening little baby on her lap. Angela turned the air conditioning off, wrapped the baby in her own shorts to keep it warm, and the baby started to cry."

The couple debated on a number of names, either streets they passed, such as Nicholas, Lees and Metcalfe, on the way to the hospital, or Mercedes or Benz in honour of the SUV where the child was born. The couple finally decided on Trenton Nicholas Schumann, and the rest is history.

It was found out after the birth that there was actually a knot in the umbilical cord, which has been a known cause of defects or still births. Trenton, however, is in perfect health, truly a miracle.

Schumann, understandably, was in awe of the experience and his wife’s cool performance during the whole ordeal.

“After we got her to the hospital, after the doctor’s rushed her upstairs, and everything had settled down, (the hospital staff) told me my car was still parked right in front of the emergency entrance,” says Schumann. “And when I sat down in the driver seat to move the car, it just hit me, the magnitude of what had just happened. It’s pretty unbelievable, Angela is just a superstar.”

But like any football team, Angela needed her lead blocker to clear a path to the hospital. Derek says he drove as fast as he could to get to the hospital, but did not pull any maneuvers he deemed a risk to the safety of his wife and child.

"It was just an amazing experience, it was like I was NASCAR driving” says Schumann from his home in Ottawa. “It’s kind of like a football play developing, where I could see the quarterback’s eyes moving to where he was going to throw, everything goes real slow, you notice every detail of what was happening. At no time did I want to cause an accident obviously, so I drove as fast as I could where I could.”

Trenton joins Sydney Brooke, 3, Sierra Marie, 5 and Turner, 7, as part of the growing Schumann/Morris clan and each of their births went considerably smoother than their recent adventure on the 417. Derek likens this birth to a time when he still was on the gridiron, still suited up in purple and silver.

“In ’88, when we beat Queen’s in the Churchill Bowl, everything was going so great, school was just amazing, our team was winning, everything was in sync,” says Schumann, who with Morris run their own mobile security convenience manufacturing business in Ottawa. “And as a player, when you take off the pads for the last time, you lose that instant rush of adrenaline you feel when you are bearing down on a quarterback or making a tackle. In the business world you don’t have that same rush, that adrenaline is tough to replicate. But this really brought back those feelings. It’s just unbelievable.”

The experience has also been a reunion of sorts for Schumann, with many of his fellow Bishop’s alums calling to congratulate the couple on their new addition.

“So many people (from Bishop’s) have been calling,” says Schumann. “It’s been great to hear from all these people, wishing us well. I had some great years in Lennoxville, a wonderful time on the field, and it’s always nice to hear from people who you shared that special time with.”