Forest Green’s Jili Buyabu is set to rejoin his team’s promotion fight – just 48 hours after helping bring his own baby into the world.
The 22-year-old Sheffield United loanee stepped up in the early hours of Thursday when his partner went into late-stage labour, and there was no time to get her to the hospital.
According to Forest Green boss Robbie Savage, Buyabu rang him at 6:50 am to report the remarkable news.
“Jili rang me at a quarter to 12 on Wednesday saying he needed to take his partner to the hospital as she was due, but it turned out to be a false alarm,” Savage explained at today’s press conference.
“Then he woke me up this morning at 10 to seven and said, ‘Gaffer, I’ve just delivered the baby.’ I said, ‘What, you?’ And he said, ‘Yeah.’ The contractions started, and he didn’t have time to get to the hospital or wait for paramedics, so Jili actually delivered the baby himself.”
Savage continued: “When the paramedics arrived, he put them on the phone and they confirmed -yes, he’d delivered the baby. At 22 years of age, I am so proud of him. He’s a character, and for him to do that is a brilliant story. He’ll be in training tomorrow -he’s got today off-but he’s been brilliant for us and will continue to be brilliant for us.”
Baby fever seems to be spreading through the Rovers’ squad, with Christian Doidge’s partner also expected to give birth later this month.
