Irish rugby star's new child was born in a car moments before big match
The Ireland centre played for the Lions in Saturday's third Test against Australia, but he is now rushing to New Zealand to meet his new daughter, Aine, for the first time.
Aki, who is now the father of five children with his wife Kayla, said: "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, 'Shit, 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."
After getting the shock news, Aki had to compose himself for the Lions' opening Test against Australia in Brisbane.
The 35-year-old came on in the second half of the match as the Lions won 27-19 to cap off a wild 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.
"All my kids start with A. So my wife loved the name Aine. That's five As in the family. Armani, Adrianna, Andronicus, Ailbhe, Aine."
New Zealand born Aki moved to Galway in 2014 and has since earned 65 caps for Ireland, as well as being involved on the last two Lions tours.
But, while some of his Lions teammates were prolonging their stay in Australia to wind down, he flew straight to New Zealand to see his wife and newborn child.
He added: "They're both strong and healthy, so happy days.
"Credit to my wife. She's a powerful woman, a strong woman."
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