Irish rugby star's wife gives birth in car before he plays British and Irish Lions match
Bundee Aki was in the squad that beat Australia in the third Test on Saturday and is now jetting to New Zealand to meet his new daughter for the first time
Bundee Aki has revealed that his newest family member arrived in dramatic fashion - born in a car just two weeks ago, moments before the rugby star took to the field for the British and Irish Lions.
The Ireland centre featured in Saturday's third Test against Australia for the Lions, but he's now racing back to New Zealand to meet his newborn daughter, Aine, for the first time, reports the Irish Mirror.
Aki, who now has five children with his wife Kayla, explained: "If you only knew the story of what happened, it's a funny story in itself.
"I was in the hotel. I knew we were overdue. The missus calls me and she's like, 'Water hasn't broke but I'm going to the hospital, I'm feeling contractions'.
"She goes to the hospital, we're getting ready for the team meeting pre-match, and then she calls me and says she's on the way to the hospital, so I said, 'Fine, be safe'.
"Five minutes later, she sends a photo, her water broke. I was like, 'Cool, OK, are you almost there?'. This is like 30 or 40 minutes away from the hospital, so I said, 'You'll be alright, Mum is there'.
"Ten minutes later, she video calls me and I was like, 'S**t, what's going on?'. I saw a baby on the video call, so she had it in the car on the way to the hospital."
Following the stunning news, Aki had to gather himself for the Lions' opening Test against Australia in Brisbane.
The 35-year-old entered the fray during the second half as the Lions secured a 27-19 victory, capping off an extraordinary day for the Connacht centre and his family.
"I knew it was good Juju. So I knew we were going to have a good day," said Aki.
"All my kids start with A. So my wife loved the name Aine. That's five As in the family. Armani, Adrianna, Andronicus, Ailbhe and Aine."
The New Zealand-born player relocated to Galway in 2014 and has since collected 65 caps for Ireland, whilst also featuring on the previous two Lions tours.
However, whilst some of his Lions teammates were extending their time in Australia to relax, he jetted straight to New Zealand to be with his wife and newborn daughter.
He continued: "They're both strong and healthy, so happy days. Credit to my wife. She's a powerful woman, a strong woman."