Hardeep Singh Toor never imagined his late-night shift as a cab driver would turn into a life-changing moment.
Working in Calgary, Canada, Toor answered a call just after midnight on Sunday, Dec. 28, to pick up a passenger. As soon as the woman got into the car, he realized she was pregnant and in visible distress.
“It was a pregnant lady, and her companion was helping her get in. She was in pain,” Toor told CTV News. “They said they were having an emergency and needed to go to the hospital.”
Toor said his first instinct was to call an ambulance, but harsh winter weather made him reconsider. Reading the urgency in the woman’s condition, he made a split-second decision to drive her himself.
“Her body language was telling me she did not have the time,” Toor explained. “I decided to drive.”
The journey took about 30 minutes, though Toor said it felt far longer as he navigated icy roads with extreme caution. With every red light, his anxiety grew.
“Every time I got to a red light, I was afraid,” he said. “In this kind of situation, it’s someone’s life at stake.”
Then, suddenly, the tension in the back seat went quiet — followed by the unmistakable sound of a newborn crying.
“I thought, ‘Okay, it’s going to be okay,’” Toor recalled. “I didn’t stop. I just kept thinking I had to get them to the hospital as fast as possible.”
When they arrived, hospital staff rushed out to assist. Later, Toor was relieved to learn that both the mother and baby were healthy. That extraordinary ride ended up being his final fare of the night.
“It’s my first experience getting two people in and three people out,” Toor said. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime moment, and it’s a proud moment.”
