REGINA — A new mini-documentary is exploring the story of the family involved with the first birth aboard a Saskatchewan Air Ambulance Service (SAAS) flight.
Airborne is currently in production. Director/producer Myrna Petersen, director of photography Lucas Frison, location co-ordinator Karla Weber and location audio Kyle Parkinson have been working on the project, which has received support from an SK Arts Independent Artist Grant.
The SAAS was launched in 1946. Leon Julien Dubreuil was born during a flight on July 24, 1948.
A Regina film crew recently interviewed the mother, Marie Dubreuil, a 105-year-old woman who still lives in her Estevan home. Petersen noted she and Dubreuil are both originally from Rose Valley, and the director/producer set out to tell the story about the day a CF-SAM air ambulance landed in the Rose Valley Sports Grounds to pick up a farm woman from the community’s hospital.
“My interest has always been in the fact that we have this baby born in 1948 – which was two years later [after the air ambulance was launched] – … over Saskatchewan in an air ambulance,” said Petersen.
A press release notes Dubreuil, a francophone woman, was experiencing severe birthing complications and the three-person ambulance crew was commissioned to transport her to a Regina hospital. Shortly after the plane hit cruising speed, Dubreuil and the attending flight nurse quickly recognized that “a baby is coming", the press release said.
Pilot Julien Audette turned the plane around and, like a stork, landed and delivered the newborn and mother to the Wadena Hospital. Born July 24, 1948, in Saskatchewan’s airwaves, the baby, Leon L. Julien Dubreuil, was given a middle name of Julien to honour the pilot.
“Growing up in the Rose Valley area, I knew the family and had heard Marie Dubreuil’s story of having the first baby born in a Saskatchewan Air Ambulance,” said Petersen. “Now in 2026, when SAAS is celebrating their 80th anniversary, I feel it is significant to recapture this historical event.
“We have the rare opportunity to interview the mother who, at the ripe old age of 105, is still communicating and actively creating her art. Having embroidered over 1,300 fabric blocks, Marie Dubreuil’s daily schedule still includes her embroidery work. She is truly a hidden jewel in the Estevan community.”
Petersen wanted people to know about Dubreuil’s story and her embroidery work, which Petersen described as “beautiful”.
“She has actually embroidered a picture of the airplane that the baby was born in, so we will be using that for our promotions. It’s lovely hand-embroidered work. They always say that for people who continue doing their art, working with their hands, longevity is one of the main things that can happen.”
With the original CF-SAM Air Ambulance on display at Moose Jaw’s Western Development Museum, the film crew also spent a day interviewing Leon Dubreuil in front of the plane. Petersen noted Leon Dubreuil also lives in Estevan.
“By 1974, the plane had been traded to a company in Latah, Washington, and was headed for the scrap pile. The Saskatchewan Tourist Association wanted to return the plane to the province and acquired it for the Western Development Museum,” said Petersen.
Interviews with the Dubreuils went well, Petersen said. It helped that she knew the family through the Rose Valley connection. \
She expects it will be a 10-12-minute short film that is expected to be finished this spring and premiered at a later date.
“We have a small crew and everybody seems to be having a lot of fun on it, and just the idea of being able to tell a story that is … truly Saskatchewan, truly historical, and with the crew all coming from Saskatchewan, it’s really a …. provincial-wide interest,” said Petersen.
Petersen, who now resides in the Regina area, has been involved with publishing books, films and scripts for many years. She has operated Ideation Entertainment for more than 25 years.
“I love storytelling,” she said. “I think there are so many good Canadian, local stories that just get missed. While fiction is good, there are so many good, true stories that I believe they should be remembered, recorded and allowed to be read and seen. I love the visual part of filmmaking so that you can actually see what is going on, or recreate it, and it just seems like it is something to capture people’s imagination and eyes.”
Petersen is grateful SK Arts recognized the significance of this story and believed it should be shared with current and future generations.
