At the point when Kitana Garrett gave birth to her first baby out of the blue in her house at only 25 weeks pregnant, two first responders who showed up at Garrett’s home to help her were credited with saving the newborn’s life.
Half a year later, in March, Garrett named those two first responders, Jamie Roan and Cody Hill, as the godparents of her little girl, Za’myla Camilla Miracle Garrett.
“All I can say is thank you a million times because they are a blessing God has sent,” Garrett, 23, told GMA. “They didn’t give up, so I feel like they will continue do that later on in life for Za’myla.”
Garrett of Columbia, Tennessee, said she was home alone while her partner was working on October 5, 2021, when she started giving birth out of nowhere and conceived the baby all alone.
After Garrett called 911, Hill, a ten-year veteran with a nearby fire department of Columbia Fire and Rescue, was one of the first to show up on the scene. He said he and his associates were “expecting the worst,” considering Garrett had conceived at home so early. But, despite the fact, they showed up to be met with Za’myla, who was alive and breathing.
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“A individual firefighter took a gander at us and said, ‘She’s breathing,'” reviewed Hill. “Everything needed to kick in gear by then.”
While other specialists on call watched out for Garrett, Hill drove the charge in dealing with Za’myla. First, he said he had the heat cranked up as high as possible to keep the newborn warm and then began performing CPR utilizing a bag valve mask to keep her relaxed and breathing. Then, in less than an hour, mere minutes, Roan, a paramedic with Maury Regional Emergency Medical Services (EMS), showed up in an ambulance and rushed Hill with Za’myla with urgency.
“We put her on the monitor and realized that she had a fighting chance,” Roan said. “And as we did CPR and suctioned her, I felt her move her shoulder, and that’s when we were all just amazed by her. We all had a little hope and we got excited.”
At that point, Za’myla weighed a little more than one pound upon entering the world and was described by both Hill and Roan as the tiniest child they had ever delivered.
“My whole entire hand probably fit from the top of her head down to her waist,” said Hill. “She was no bigger than maybe a potato, is what it seemed like.” Roan followed up by saying: “We were talking to her the whole way to the hospital, saying, ‘Fight little girl.'”
When they finally arrived at the hospital, Hill and Roan said they remained next to her while she was in care until they got the word that she was stable. After that, the only time Roan left the baby’s side was to meet the approaching emergency vehicle that conveyed Garrett, so she could tell the new mother that her child was still breathing and alive.
“I went outside and waited … and I jumped in the truck when she got there because I wanted her to know,” Roan said. “I was pretty excited to tell her.”
When Za’myla was released from the NICU in late January, one of the first stops Garrett carried her to was the Columbia Fire and Rescue for a tear-jerking reunion. The mother and girl have visited often in the weeks since, as per Hill and Roan.
“That day, we didn’t even know if she would make it to the hospital, and every time I see her, I can’t believe it,” Hill said of Za’myla, who now weighs nearly 10 pounds. “That little, tiny, tiny potato has grown up. She’s a fighter and has turned into a strong little girl.”
Finally, during one stop-by in March, Garrett asked Hill and Roan to be her little girl’s godparents, an amazing honor they said they were touched to have.
“I was stunned and blown away,” Hill said. “Particularly in the profession that we have, you never truly get much criticism from patients. We get them and treat them and drop them off…furthermore, we don’t hear a great deal back.”
The mother said she intends to continue to take Za’myla by the fire station and will ensure that her baby always knows who Hill and Roan are.
“They saved her,” she said, adding that when she and Za’myla visit the fire station, “They always have open arms. They love on her like she’s one of theirs.”