Jacksonville Jaguars defensive tackle, Dawuane Smoot, helped deliver his daughter in his living room.
According to ESPN, the unexpected situation occurred around 4 a.m. ET on Tuesday when they were about to leave for the hospital when his wife, Aumari, collapsed in the living room.
He recounted how a 911 operator walked him through the birthing process.
"During the time that the ambulance, we all was on the phone with the ambulance, they told me to grab a shoestring," Dawuane recalls. "Which I had no idea what I was going to use the shoestring for, but I grabbed a shoestring, and they told me to tie it around the umbilical cord to allow the blood flow to be able to go to the baby. And that's, that's what we used. They just walked me through it, and I grabbed one of my shoes and just tore it out as soon as I could.”
Their daughter, Ahlani Moon Smoot, was born within an hour.
The football player called his wife "The real hero: mom-of-the-year."
The Real Hero Mom-of- the Year @AumariShatwan Thank you for give birth to our beautiful Daughter in 1 hour!!! #strongwoman https://t.co/Ae9Q0Z7Dk6
— Dawuane Smoot (@Bigsmoot_94) October 19, 2021
In an interview with CNN, Dawuane said his wife's collapse was the scariest moment of his life.
The couple is already parents to a 2-year-old, Ahmir, who was also born at home.
"Yeah, so um, actually Ahmir, he was born at home um and so having a home birth was not foreign to me, but like you all know, I was not expecting to have her at home," Aumari Smoot said. "She was supposed to be born at a birthing center, so the whole thing was chaotic, and I’m just so proud of him for how he handled the situation."
The family is all doing well.
