Wednesday, December 29, 2010

New York Blizzard: Newborn Baby Dies

(Newser) – A newborn baby was one tragic victim of Sunday's East Coast blizzard. The mother, a 22-year-old college senior whose family didn’t know she was pregnant, was making her way to a hospital when she stopped in a building lobby in Brooklyn, unable to walk any farther. Help didn’t arrive until nine hours after the first 911 call was made, in part because the call didn’t at first seem urgent, and in part because the streets weren’t plowed, says the student’s mother: “No one could get to her.”

The baby, who was to be placed up for adoption, was unresponsive by the time help arrived and was pronounced dead at the hospital; the mother was recovering last night. The New York Daily News has more sad stories from Monday, including a woman who couldn’t get through to 911 operators for 20 minutes and watched her mother die while waiting three hours for help, and another woman who had to spend the night with her dead father when his body couldn’t be claimed for 24 hours.

Sad story; there's always some when a storm hits. May Mother Mary's blessings be on this child; may the Lord take its soul into heaven.
Years ago, I lived on Long Island and there was a big storm. In the morning, the lady across the street called and asked me to come over, her husband was laying still on the couch. I trudged over and found Andy dead. I immediately called 911 and an ambulance was dispatched but because of the snow blocked roadways, they took a long time arriving. When they did arrive the attendant start yelling about why did I call them because the man is dead. I said, "am I a doctor that I know for sure he is dead? He could be in a coma or something. It's your job to find out his condition, not mine!" I guess they were upset because of the weather. When the police arrived they asked the wife why she didn't call 911 and she said she thought Andy was just sleeping. I think Andy had a heart attack after shoveling snow and laid down and died. May he rest in peace.
Deacon John