The parents of an early baby are suing a Florida hospital, saying that a worker hurt their baby’s spinal cord and killed them.
In June 2022, the Lopera and Peets family had their daughter Jahxy at Orlando Health Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies. The baby was born 24 weeks early because of an emergency C-section. She was put on a breathing tube right away and taken to the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
When they filed a complaint on October 17, they said, “there was no evidence of any birth-related trauma.”
But after two weeks, Jahxy’s neck was broken in an MRI. Records from court show that she was paralyzed and unable to breathe on her own because of serious damage to her spinal cord.
There would not have been this kind of spinal cord damage if too much force hadn’t been used when the baby was being handled. “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.”
“Also, there is no proof that the police were told that someone who had access to the Orlando Health NICU had broken Jahxy’s neck.”Records in court also say that the hospital worker “put her back in the incubator without telling anyone” after Jahxy got hurt.
The lawsuit said that Jahxy died in November 2022, a few months after the accident, because of how badly it hurt her.
She didn’t report her broken neck because it was “either not recognized or not reported,” according to the complaint. This makes it look like someone tried to hide what hurt Jahxy.
A hospital spokeswoman told PEOPLE in a statement that they “will not discuss specific medical cases in public but will say that caring for babies born very early is hard work for parents, doctors, and nurses.”
“Our hearts are broken for this family and all families who have lost a child. “However, we also think that people who work in this setting should be judged on facts, not guesses,” the statement said. “We’re excited to talk about the facts of this case where it belongs.”
Peets told the press on October 21 about the short time he had with his daughter. He told her she was a “fighter.” Lopera added that she and Peets “deserve answers” and “want justice for Jahxy.”
“It breaks our hearts that we couldn’t keep ourselves safe from Winnie Palmer Hospital.” She said through tears, “That’s where she thought she would be safer.” “Every parent whose child was born at Winnie Palmer should know what happened to Jahxy.” “They are making it possible for it to happen again by hiding it,” she added.
Lopera said, “I never got to hear my daughter cry.” “She never got to meet her family or siblings.” We didn’t like any of the big games. We only held her four times in her whole life.
The parents now want a jury trial and to be compensated for what they’ve lost.