NORFOLK, Va. — The tiniest soul is capturing the hearts of the first responders who helped save her life. Baby Evelyn and her family stopped in to Norfolk Fire Station 10 for a very special reunion.
Evelyn is now four months old. She grinned at responders as they held her Saturday.
"I am just so grateful," Evelyn's mother Ashely Nesbitt said. "Thank you."
The story starts at Evelyn's birth in September.
"I did plan on a home birth," said Nesbitt. "We were completely prepared, the birth was going incredible."
The birth started smoothly before it took a turn.
"Once we got to where she was actually birthing we found she had shoulder dystocia."
Help was needed.
"As soon as she was out, we noticed she was pretty purple. We tried CPR, baby CPR, my husband is certified so he started right away. It was pretty quick that I looked at her and said okay go ahead and call," said Nesbitt.
"We were dispatched to a home address for a cardiac arrest for a newborn," explained Norfolk firefighter paramedic Christopher Ealy.
Responders said a call where a baby's heart stops is rare and they don't often work on patients that small, but Ealy said he's been on a similar call before.
"Pediatrics are hard. Most of us are parents. To experience stuff like this just weighs on you over time. [Calls like these are always] a very difficult call, but in the moment, you just have to fall back on your training and rise to the occasion."
Baby Evelyn was rushed to CHKD with her father in tow. Nesbitt was taken to a different hospital. That's where Ealy met her to let her know baby Evelyn was going to be okay.
"I was very, very, very comforted by the fact they were quick, I knew that they knew what they were doing. Everyone communicated really well to me," said Nesbitt.
Evelyn had several seizures and suffered damage to her brain at first, but the family got great news at Evelyn's latest neurological appointment.
"There's not a single sign of delays or brain damage. She's a literal miracle," said Nesbitt. Nesbitt said that's thanks to quick action by those who responded at the home and those who jumped into action at the hospital.
And the first responders, who don't often know the final outcome of their calls, said it's a miracle for them too.
"Just to see there is a positive outcome... there is no greater feeling in the world," said Ealy.
