3 weeks ago
4
A family is grieving after the loss of their newborn daughter — and they say the hospital is to blame.
Back in June 2022, Gianna Lopera and Jahmiah Peets welcomed their little girl Jahxy Peets into the world. She was born at Orlando Health Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies in an emergency c-section at just 24 weeks old, and was immediately rushed to the NICU to be cared for due to her premature birth. She was early, but she was doing well… at first.
Two weeks later an MRI revealed the baby — which had seemingly been unharmed in the delivery — suddenly had a broken neck. The damage to her spinal cord left her paralyzed — she couldn’t even breathe on her own.
Jahxy would pass away just a few months later in November 2022 due to the injury, never getting to leave the NICU. Her parents are certain the hospital is to blame for the little one’s death, and have filed a lawsuit in Florida explaining their side of things.
Related: AI Chatbot Encouraged 14-Year-Old Boy’s Suicide, Claims Mom’s Lawsuit
According to the October 17 filing, at the time of the newborn’s birth “there was no evidence of any birth-related trauma”. The family believes a NICU worker must’ve used “excessive force” when handling Jahxy, which caused her fatal injury:
“This type of spinal cord injury could not occur without the use of excessive force when handling a newborn.”
The lawsuit also claims the hospital neither alerted the family nor police about it:
“There is no note in the medical record documenting the excessive-force event which caused this traumatic injury, and no indication in the medical record that an investigation was performed to identify and bring to justice the individual who caused this devastating injury. Furthermore, there is not evidence that police were notified that an individual with access to the Orlando Health NICU had broken Jahxy’s neck.”
So awful… What happened?!
The parents believe a worker with access to the NICU — a nurse, a doctor, a tech, someone — mishandled Jahxy, realized they’d hurt her, then “put her back in the incubator without notifying anyone”. Oof, we are having a hard time imagining.
Because of the lack of response to the injury, due to it being “either not recognized or not reported”, the suit argues it seems like “an attempt to cover up the cause of Jahxy’s injury was made”. Horrifying if true.
When asked about these allegations, a hospital spokesperson told People on Monday they “will not address specific medical cases publicly but will share that the delivery of care to extremely premature babies is complex and emotional work for parents, doctors, and nurses.” Seriously? It’s “emotional work”? That’s supposed to explain something? They also offered thoughts and prayers:
“We offer our deepest sympathies to this family, and to any family who suffers the loss of a child, but also believe those who provide care in this environment should be judged on facts, not speculation. We look forward to discussing the facts of this case in the appropriate forum.”
Meanwhile, Jahxy’s devastated family is still seeking answers. During a press conference last week, her father said she was a “fighter”. The baby’s mother said they “deserve answers” and just “want justice for Jahxy”:
“Our heart is broken because we could not protect ourselves from Winnie Palmer Hospital. The place where she was supposed to be the safest.”
The heartbroken mom went on to say:
“Every parent whose baby is born at Winnie Palmer deserves to know what happened to Jahxy. By covering it up, they are leaving room for it to happen again. I never got a chance to hear my daughter cry. She never got a chance to meet her siblings or her family. We never celebrated a single milestone. We only held her four times in her entire life.”
Gut-wrenching. Poor mom…
Jahxy’s parents are seeking compensation and a trial by jury in relation to their daughter’s death. We can’t imagine what they’re going through. May the little one rest in peace.
[Image via MD TV/YouTube]
English (US) ·