It’s tradition for news outlets to write about the first local birth of the year, but at SooToday we thought it would be fun to feature the winner and runner-up
Radley ‘Rad’ Devon MacMillan is the first baby born in Sault Ste. Marie in 2026.
The newborn boy arrived at 3:45 a.m. Jan. 1 at Sault Area Hospital.
Jordan Bringleson and Tyler MacMillan of the Sault are Radley’s proud parents.
He came into the world weighing eight pounds and one ounce at 20 inches long.
“It’s pretty cool,” Bringleson told SooToday, when asked how it feels to be the mother of the first baby born in the Sault in 2026.
Bringleson said being born Jan. 1 means no one will ever forget Radley’s birthday.
“His dad keeps saying that he’ll never have to find someone to celebrate his birthday with him. Everybody will always be excited and on board. It’s a happy day of the year.”
“There are lots of people gathering already so he’ll have some big birthdays for sure,” MacMillan said.
It was a quick delivery for Bringleson.
“I feel awesome. I feel great,” she said.
“I laboured at home and then we called our midwife at 3 a.m. to say things had changed. I told Ty he needed to start the car immediately. We were at the hospital at 3:20 and we had Radley in our arms by 3:45. They had us discharged within three hours of him being born. By 7 a.m. we were clear to go home,” Bringleson said.
Mother and son are healthy and happy.
“It was beautiful. It was an easy delivery,” Bringleson said.
“Jordan’s a serious trooper. Everything happened really quick and she did awesome,” MacMillan said.
The father expressed his gratitude for help provided by Midwives of Algoma.
“Our midwife was amazing. She made sure that everything was perfect and we were good to leave the hospital with Radley in three hours. We brought bags of stuff like food, snacks, a fan, all kinds of stuff but we didn’t open up any of it. We walked in, Jordan gave birth perfectly and we just basically grabbed our stuff and left within a couple hours.”
The couple and their son made it home for breakfast.
“It’s been so good. It’s been really awesome,” Bringleson said.
Radley is the couple’s fourth child.
The newborn baby went home to one sister and two brothers.
The possibility of having the first baby born in Sault Ste. Marie in 2026 had been on the couple’s mind.
“We talked about it. We thought maybe the timing would line up. We weren’t quite sure and then it just lined up perfectly,” MacMillan said.
“My babies always come late but Radley came before his due date. I think that was his choice. He was ready to join us. He wanted to be first,” Bringleson said with a chuckle.
Like many news outlets around the world, SooToday traditionally tells the story of the first local baby born in a new year. But this, we decided to also feature the “runner-up.”
Izayah Lanthier was born at approximately 7 a.m. — just a few hours after Radley.
Kara Bruzas and Jason Lanthier are the boy’s parents.
Izayah was born weighing seven pounds and four ounces at 19 inches long.
“It’s awesome,” Lanthier said. “We’re so excited for baby to meet his siblings. He has two brothers and two sisters.”
Though mom Bruzas was not available for comment, Lanthier said “she’s over the moon.”
“We came up here to the hospital at 10 o’clock on the night of Dec. 31 but the birth wasn’t until seven o’clock in the morning,” Lanthier said. “Kara was in labour for about eight hours but baby’s happy and healthy with mom and it all worked out.”
Bruzas and Lanthier were aware their baby might have been the first born in the Sault in 2026.
“Honestly, we were hoping we would be number one,” Lanthier said.
“One of the doctors came in and said: ‘Somebody just had their baby. You’re not number one anymore.’ It would have been cool to be number one but second is good too.”
Most importantly, Lanthier said he and Bruzas are happy their newborn son is healthy.