No bond is greater than that of a mother and child. This old proverb was proven when Shelly Cawley woke up from a coma when she heard her baby cry.
The then 23-year-old Shelly had to undergo an emergency Caesarian section (C-section) at the Carolinas HealthCare System NorthEast in North Carolina. The doctors put her under and proceeded with the C-Section. Moments later, Rylan Cawley, Shelly's first baby girl was born. Unfortunately, Shelly's life was put in danger when a blood clot broke during her operation and rendered her comatose for several hours.
Shelly's husband, the then 35-year-old Jeremy Cawley, waited helplessly as the doctors tried everything to bring his wife out of the childbirth coma. Shelly was in coma for almost a week. The doctors were afraid that they will lose Shelly but staff nurse Ashley Manus had an idea that just might save the mother's life.
"We're a big proponent of skin-to-skin [contact]. We believe it has great benefits for the mom and the baby," Manus says. Shelly's newborn baby had been resting at the nursery a few floors away. With the help of the ICU nurse, Manus placed a naked Baby Rylan on her mother's chest. Manus hoped that Shelly was still conscious deep down and that her maternal instinct would kick in when she hears her baby cry.
At first, nothing happened. Baby Rylan was so peaceful lying on her mother's chest that she fell asleep. Manus and the ICU nurse remained hopeful that when Shelly hears her baby cry, she would be jolted out of her coma. Running out of options, the nurses gently pinched and tickled Baby Rylan until she let out a loud cry 10 minutes later. The nurses saw a spike on Shelly's vitals. A miracle happened, Baby Rylan saved her mother's life.
Shelly finally woke up from her coma a week later and for the first time, held Baby Rylan in her arms. Both mother and daughter went home eventually with no complications from the near-death experience.
One year have passed since the ordeal. Jeremy and Shelly celebrated Baby Rylan's first birthday with a glitter-themed party. The couple even made a time capsule that Baby Rylan can open when she turns 18 but Shelly won't wait years to tell her the story of how her cries saved her life.
