written by: Susan LackeΒ Β photos by: Adam Finkle
The smallest fighters beat the biggest odds.
Flint and Elliot: A Family, Multiplied
Jammie Cox had been here before. She was certain of it. As the real estate agent spoke of the amenities of the house they were touring, Jammie couldnβt help but look out the window and down the street. It was too familiar. Still, she couldnβt quite place her finger on when she had been here.
She and her husband, Cory, loved the house in Farmington, so they bought it. As they moved into their new home, it hit her: She was only two houses down from one of her most critical nights at work.
βIt was July 17, 2012. The 911 call came into Davis dispatch afterΒ midnight,β recalls Jammie, who works as a Sergeant Paramedic for the Davis County Sherrifβs Office. βI was dispatched to a female with vaginal hemorrhaging. Initial information stated I had a patient who was 32 weeks pregnant, diagnosed with placenta accreta.β
The condition, one of the leading causes of death during childbirth, causes profuse hemorrhaging and blood loss. When Jammie arrived on the scene, Cacia was lying on the floor, a trail of blood behind her. Instinctively, Jammieβs hand went to her own abdomen.
βDid I mention I was pregnant as well?β Jammie interjects.
Jammie knew Cacia needed high-level care, and quickly, or she would die. She loaded Cacia into an ambulance and drove her to the landing zone for a helicopter.
βAirMedβs OB team was there and waiting, and I was so glad and relieved,β said Jammie. βThey took off, and that was the last I heard of them.β
That is, until a few years later, when her new neighbors came over.
βMy name is Cacia,β she said, extending a plate of homemade cookies, βand these are my twin sons, Flint and Elliot.β
βI didnβt say anything for quite some time,β Jammie laughs as she recalls the moment. βI didnβt want to be the creeper neighbor.β
But as the twins became best friends with Jammieβs daughter, Evie, so too did their mothers. As their relationship grew, Jammie felt more comfortable bringing up the night they actually met.
βI donβt think she remembers me from the call much.β Jammie smiles. βMy part was so minuscule. No heroic efforts, just getting her to a higher level of care fast.β
That decision, however, was a lifesaving one: When the helicopter arrived at the hospital, Cacia was seconds away from death. After emergency surgery to stop the bleeding and deliver the babies, Cacia spent several precarious days in the intensive care unit of the University of Utah Hospital, recovering from massive blood loss and lung failure. The babies, mercifully, were healthy for their premature status.
βBecause the night happened in such an emergent way, the details havenβt always been clear for me. I remember hoping one day someone could help fill in some missing pieces to the story,β says Cacia. βI remember being so excited and intrigued that this gal who aided me that night was now one of my neighbors.β
Today, the Rodgers and Cox families are closeβnot just geographically, but as friends. There are big family dinners, shared camping trips and long summer evenings of heart-to-heart conversations. Cacia calls Jammie one of her βvery closest friends,β and Jammie feels the same.
βI just know with all my heart this story was meant to play out the way it did,β says Cacia. βThere were so many miracles along the way.β
βWhenever I have those days where I think my job doesnβt matter,β says Jammie, βI look at my daughter playing with her two best friends and realizeβit does.β
University of Utah AirMed team keeps six helicopters and two airplanes at the ready 24 hours a day. They are dispatched to the most critical calls around Utah and Wyoming. As one of the only flight teams in the nation with a 24-hour perinatal team (high-risk OB nurse, neonatal nurse and perinatal respiratory therapist), AirMed has established itself as a gold standard for transporting high-risk pregnant patients and critically ill newborns.
Read the other stories: Peyton’s Story |Β Kadence Joy’s Story
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See more inside ourΒ 2017 November/December Issue.