Lots of mothers will tell you their lives changed forever the day their child was born. That was true for me, too, but then just nine days later, my life changed again.
That was the day my daughter died.
I didn’t expect to get pregnant. After years of being told my husband, Dan, and I could not conceive, we’d started our family a less traditional way, by foster-adopting a beautiful baby boy. Six months later, I discovered I was pregnant.
On May 3, 2006, we welcomed Rhiannon Fay-Marie McMurray into the world. Doctors said our little girl was in picture-perfect health and sent us home.
After a little more than a week, Rhiannon began acting fussy, stopped eating and wouldn’t sleep. Worried, I took her to the doctor’s office on May 11. There, between the waiting area and the examining room, Rhiannon went into cardiac arrest.
Our “miracle” died the next morning.
An autopsy later showed that Rhiannon had contracted an undiagnosed virus sometime in her first few days of life. We’ll probably never know where or when. In older children, this virus acts like a common cold, but in a baby as young as Rhiannon, it systematically attacked her organs.
Doctors told us the virus was incredibly rare, but the next year, the Rocky Mountain region experienced an outbreak among newborns. Sadly, many of them didn’t survive.
We later learned a staggering statistic: In the United States alone, 30,000 babies born each year die before reaching their first birthday.
Last year, we formed the Colorado chapter of the R Baby Foundation, a national non-profit organization started by Andrew and Phyllis Rabinowitz, a New York couple who experienced a very similar loss to ours.
Our goal is to raise money to fund grants and programs at The Children’s Hospital in Aurora that are specifically geared toward saving the lives of the smallest among us – our babies. Last year, through our first annual Walk to Save Babies’ Lives, we raised more than $40,000. This money is being used to purchase new technology and teach Emergency Medical Technicians how to more effectively open the airways of newborns who stop breathing on their own.
This year, we have already hosted a golf tournament and other smaller fundraisers. Now, we are turning our attention to our second annual Walk to Save Babies’ Lives, which will be held Saturday, Sept. 25, at City Park in Denver.
We had more than 200 people participate in our event last year, and this year, we hope to have even more. In addition to a two-mile health walk, our event features a kids run, a fabulous and free family festival with entertainment, kiddie rides, arts and crafts and a toddler play area, a prize drawing, free food and a silent auction.
We really need the help of Mile High Mamas and others to make this event a success. We’d love it if you would consider forming a team and joining us. Invite your family, friends and other moms to get involved. The donation fees are reasonable and tax deductible, and we do everything we can to keep overhead costs as low as possible so nearly every dollar raised goes to the medical community most of us turn to when our children are sick.
Please check out our website at www.rbabywalkcolorado.org and consider following us on Facebook and Twitter. In addition, I am happy to answer any of your questions. You can e-mail me at [email protected].
Walk with us to save babies’ lives. Because every baby is R Baby.
Corinne McMurray is a mother of four, Tommy, Rhiannon, and twins Tyler and Izzi. Corinne has been dedicated to the wellness of children for years and runs a home daycare center in Arvada. All of her work for R Baby is done as a volunteer committed to preventing other families from experiencing the sorrow of infant loss.
JoAnn
What a heartbreaking story! I can’t even imagine dealing with the death of a child. Kudos to you for taking something terrible and using it as motivation to make a difference in so many babies’ lives!