More than a month after residents of the city and surrounding communities were evacuated, a Fort McMurray couple welcomed the newest member of their family, and the city’s newest resident.
Alberta Health Services (AHS) officials announced Melissa Taylor, and her partner Steven Mercer welcomed Eli Danny Roy Mercer at 5:02 a.m. Friday, June 17.
The little boy weighed in at 6 pounds, 7 ounces – and officials said mom and baby are doing well.
AHS said Eli is the couple’s second child; he’s now a little brother to Abagail, who is almost two years old.
Eli’s mother said she’s glad her son was born in Fort McMurray.
“It was the deciding factor for us to come home, knowing that the hospital was back up and running,” Taylor said. “I didn’t want to have my baby anywhere else.”
The director of the Northern Lights Regional Health Centre (NLRHC), the hospital in Fort McMurray, sees Eli’s birth as a major milestone in bringing the city back to normal.
“We are so thrilled to see the NLRHC returning to normal service and we’re all so excited to mark this special birth,” David Matear, Senior Operating Director of NLRHC and the Fort McMurray area for AHS said in a statement.
“We’re all caregivers, it’s what we do. We’re so glad to be back doing our jobs and able to support moms in labour and help bring babies into the world,” Juanity Pilgrim, manager of the maternity/child unit at NLRHC said in a statement. “Fort McMurray is our home too.”
