This is just an absolutely heartbreaking story. A Fresno firefighter
A Fresno firefighter lost his beloved wife just an hour after she gave birth to their twin girls. Nick Reeder and Amanda Sawyer were over the moon with excitement over the arrival of their girls. But tragedy struck shortly after the babies were born.
On April 9, Amanda and Nick arrived at the hospital for their scheduled c-section. Amanda’s pregnancy had been nearly perfect, and the delivery was expected to go the same way. The surgery went well, and twins Kelce and Kaia were born just two minutes apart.
However, within minutes of the girls being born, things started to go wrong. Amanda started feeling unwell, and lost consciousness.
Doctors and nurses circled the room to help her, but sadly, there was nothing they could do.
Amanda died just an hour later, leaving behind a devastated family, and five kids.
Such a happy, beautiful moment was cut short by tragedy and we can’t imagine what Amanda’s family is feeling right now.
Nick and Amanda met about 4 years ago, and it was love at first sight.
Nick says of Amanda, “Her personality was so fun. Her laugh was contagious.”
They lived together in Fresno, where Nick worked as a fire captain for Fresno County Fire and CalFire.
Amanda was a loving mother and wife, holding down the fort while Nick was risking his life to keep others safe.
Amanda decorated their home with fire memorabilia and routinely took their kids Caleb, 11, Anistyn, 6 and Layla, 3 to visit dad at the station.
The parents found out they were expecting twins in early 2017. It came as a bit of a shock, but they were thrilled by the news. They were married in November 2017, in front of family and friends. They spent the next few months preparing for the arrival of their baby girls.
Amanda had a healthy pregnancy, and there was no indication that anything was wrong.
On April 9, the couple arrived at Clovis Community Medical Center for a scheduled c-section.
They even took a selfie together before the surgery.
Everything went according to plan, and Kelce and Kaia were born healthy, 2 minutes apart
.Nick says that Amanda got a chance to meet her new daughters. He says, “She bopped them on the nose and had a few special moments with them.” Just after that, however, Amanda turned to Nick and told him she wasn’t feeling well.
Despite doctors doing everything they could to save her, Amanda passed away just an hour after her beloved babies came into this world.
It’s still unclear as to what happened that led to Amanda’s death, but Nick commends the doctors and nurses who worked so hard to save her life. He’s also sharing his story in the hopes that it opens up the conversation around maternal mortality in this country. Says Nick, “This could happen to anybody.”
Nick’s community has united around him and the kids in the days since Amanda’s death. They created a GoFundMe and Meal Train to help the family of six through this incredibly difficult time.
It’s so difficult to adjust to bringing home newborn twins, especially with three other kids at home. But now Nick has to figure out how to move forward doing it on his own.
“I wish I were half the person she was,” Nick said. “… I was so lucky to spend four years with that woman.”
So very sad.