Nic Demski was operating on just four hours of sleep on Wednesday and so it was completely understandable that the needle on his physical and emotional tank was bouncing on the ‘E’ for empty.
Still, let it be said, too, that Demski was positively beaming after Winnipeg Blue Bombers practice on Wednesday as his fiancée Vanessa gave birth to his first child – Raia Elizabeth Demski – earlier this week.
“It’s such a blur,” began Demski, his grin radiating the Blue Bombers locker room. “I’m pretty sure Monday was July 3rd, right? Yeah, OK. Monday, July 3rd… 3:10 a.m. Me and my fiancée Vanessa have a beautiful baby girl we’re happy to bring into this word.”
Monday’s arrival capped what had been a wild few days for Demski, who was still planning on flying on the team’s charter to Montreal last Friday for their Canada Day win over the Montreal Alouettes when his timetable changed.
“I was literally packing my bags and Vanessa yelled from the other room, ‘I think we’ve got to go to the hospital.’ It was close,” said Demski. “It’s exciting. I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time. There’s a lot of stress leading up to the game and if I was even going or not. The show started at 7:15 in the morning as I was packing and getting ready for Montreal and I’m like, ‘Well, OK… I guess I’m not going.’ She made the decision for me, but it was definitely the best decision that has happened.
“It was perfect. All the left and right turns throughout this process, this is the way it was supposed to go. I’m just blessed she came out happy, came out healthy and we can’t wait to start our life together.”
Demski is expected to return to the Blue Bombers lineup for Friday’s home date against the Calgary Stampeders. It turns out he was still able to watch the win in Montreal, too – while in the hospital with Vanessa.
“I didn’t even prepare to do that. I had to phone my mom and ask her to bring her iPad over and get on the wifi and set it all up,” Demski explained. “It was awesome to be able to watch it, but at the same time I knew there were expectations or a chance I might not be able to watch it.
“That’s one of those moments where you do realize there is life beyond this locker room. Everybody was super supportive of me not going knowing what was at stake. I even got some eyes from some guys knowing that this was the 40th week – ‘You really planning on going to this game?’ It just goes to show this really is a family-oriented locker room, not just within the locker room, but with the guys that have families of their own. Obviously, there’s a lot of care there and a lot of love for your personal relationships outside of this locker room, too. Just the support I got means the world, for sure.
“It takes a lot of stress off your shoulders of the decisions you have to make. I mean, I went in to talk to Osh (head coach Mike O’Shea) and Osh was like, ‘Do I have to make this decision for you of travelling or not?’ Vanessa has been unreal leading up to this. And when the show started at 7 a.m. on travel day it was a no brainer that I was about to stay.”
Demski said he leaned on the other dads in the Blue Bombers locker room, including Zach Collaros, Drew Wolitarsky, Stanley Bryant, Willie Jefferson, Jermarcus Hardrick, Jake Thomas, and Dakota Prukop – among others – for advice and as sounding boards over the last few months.
“There are a lot of dads on this team,” he said. “They reached out just to make sure everything is OK and make sure even when I was in the hospital if anything needed to be dropped off at my house. It is a family in here and there’s definitely support as I start my own family.”
Every first-time dad has their ‘Wow’ moment after a child is born. And for Demski it came some time on Monday – again, the whole thing is still a blur for him – when he scooped up Raia.
“For me it was just holding her for the first time,” he explained. “I was so exhausted after the whole thing. There were so many left and right turns because there can be so much unexpected with the whole birth process and so many emotional rollercoasters you go through, and I was just trying to be supportive of Vanessa the whole time.
“As soon as she came out, we all had our little moment together and then, honestly, I passed out. And when I woke up and held her for the first time and had a clearer head space, I was looking at her thinking, ‘This is my child and Vanessa and I created this.’ That was my reality moment.
“You go in there thinking you know everything that’s about to go down. But there’s so much that goes on and it’s different for everyone. It was just an amazing experience to go through. I just look at Vanessa in a whole new light now and what she can do.”
The Blue Bombers held a closed practice on Wednesday. Here are some other notes and quotes from the availability following the session…
FYI: QB Dru Brown, LB Shayne Gauthier and DB Redha Kramdi all did not practice on Wednesday, with Brown again missing for ‘non-injury related’ reasons.
SALUTED: Read into the Pro Football Focus honours as you will, but the Blue Bombers offensive line and centre Chris Kolankowski were honoured for their work in the Week 4 win over Montreal. The details, courtesy CFL.ca.
