A 250-Mile Journey Home as Cleveland Clinic Tradition Hospital NICU Team Delivers Lifesaving Care for Newborn Walker

Crystal Brinson’s son Walker is in kindergarten now. A 6-year-old boy who plays T-ball and roller hockey. But Crystal will never forget when the Cleveland Clinic Tradition Hospital newborn intensive care unit (NICU) team arrived to transport him the 250 miles from the Jacksonville hospital where he was born home to Martin County, Fla.

Crystal and Walker’s dad, Cory Shea, had gone on a hunting trip in a rural part of Georgia in late November of 2019 when Crystal was eight months pregnant with Walker, her first child.  

“It was a very normal pregnancy,” Crystal says.  “There were no red flags whatsoever. We were on the last hunting trip of the season and were going to go home and get the baby’s room together.”

On December 1, the day they were going to head home, Crystal took a short nap to rest for the drive. When she woke up, she was bleeding.  She called her doctor before getting on the road, and she was advised to stop at the nearest hospital on the way home so that she could get an ultrasound.  Though she had no pain or signs of labor, she and Cory stopped at a Jacksonville, Fla., hospital.

Walker in the NICU after being born 5 weeks premature.

The healthcare team there discovered a blood clot that had developed between Crystal’s placenta and uterus, caused by a placental abruption. It was recommended that Crystal deliver her baby that day. About four hours later, Walker was born via an emergency Cesarean section, five weeks premature.

At 5 pounds,7 ounces, he was in good health. But he was kept in the NICU because of his early birth and placed on a feeding tube until he could meet the hospital’s eating standards for newborns, which was to finish a five-ounce bottle. Crystal was discharged after three days and she and Cory stayed in housing on the hospital campus. After nine days had passed Walker was still not finishing a full five ounces at feedings, and the family was still in Jacksonville, longing for home, where their families and support system were.

“Walker was healthy, there was nothing wrong,” Crystal says. “I just felt like we didn’t need to be there any longer.”

Finally, understanding Crystal and Cory’s desire and needs to go home, a nurse at the Jacksonville hospital contacted the Tradition Hospital NICU team to request transferring the baby there.

Just hours later, pediatric caregivers at Tradition Hospital and Cleveland Clinic Martin Health’s Advanced Medical Transport Ambulance Service hit the road for the nearly four-hour drive to Jacksonville.

“When they arrived, they immediately took charge and embraced us,” Crystal says. “They had the intensity of a SWAT team. It was very cool.”

Walker, now 6 years old, enjoying life outdoors with his family. 

The NICU team assessed and fed Walker and inserted an IV as a safeguard. They then placed him in an incubator for the ride home. Crystal and Cory followed the transport vehicle in their own car, confident that Walker was in good hands and relieved to be going home.

Once he arrived at Tradition Hospital, Walker had to stay a few days for observation and Crystal and Cory were able to stay there as well.

Crystal says she was impressed with the professionalism, efficiency and level of care they received.

“Every nurse on every shift who came to our room were on the same page,” Crystal says. “They knew what was going on. Everybody knew our story and what we needed and what was going on with Walker.”

Three days later, Walker was finally able to go home. Crystal said she and Cory were so grateful to the NICU team at Tradition Hospital.

“Thanks to the Cleveland Clinic team, Walker was finally getting home healthy and happy, and just in time for Christmas,” she adds.