Saving Baby Jace

Author: Deborah Coplin
Issue: 2008 April

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That night, Jace Campbell was stabilized and monitored in a room at the Edmond Hospital Emergency Room until a room became available at Children’s Hospital in Oklahoma City. There he spent ten days in the Pediatric ICU and for eight of those days he was intubated because he could not breathe on his own.

Though the doctors said that Jace would live, they could give no encouraging words as to his quality of life after such trauma. They said he had experienced near SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). Later, it was determined that he had Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI) and might never come off the ventilator. They also felt Jace might never regain voluntary movement of his body.

Today, at six months old, Jace Campbell has defied the odds. He is breathing on his own and doing many of the things that doctors predicted he would never do again, including voluntary movement.

“I knew it wasn’t the end. I knew it wasn’t over,” said Rocky. “I knew he was going to come home again.”

Officer Fountain visited Jace, both in the hospital and after he returned home. He said that after holding the baby and seeing how far he had come, he simply lost control of his emotions. Fountain stays in touch with the family saying the experience has had a profound impact on his life.

“I saw a miracle that day,” he said. “You don’t see miracles very often.”

Lives are still being touched and changed by Jace’s experience through a website set up for him. By visiting www.caringbridge.org/visit/jacecampbell those interested can sign the guest book and get updated information on his progress.

Upon reflection, Lydia said, “I’ll never care if my house is clean again or if my kids are dressed up cute.”
Rocky says that his life has forever been changed by the experience. “I don’t care if I never do anything else when I come home from work but just hold him. I’m just thankful we’re able to hold him.”

SIDS claims the lives of 2,500 infants each year in the United States. It remains unpredictable, despite years of research.

Only the week before the incident, Lydia Campbell had read a magazine article about the fact that SIDS happened predominantly to baby boys and that it afflicted babies between the ages of two months and four months old. She is thankful her son did not become one of those statistics.

Saving Baby Jace

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