GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — As Amanda O'brien was bringing a precious new life into this world, she was losing another. She gave birth to her new daughter on Monday, and just days later, one of her older children was declared brain dead.
“I was a mother of four girls, and now I have three,” the devastated mother told FOX 17 Friday.
***DONATE TO THE FAMILY'S GOFUNDME CAMPAIGN HERE***
The story goes back to Monday, Feb. 13 when somebody drove into Amanda's car.
“The woman bent the corner and she hit me head-on. My stomach hit the steering wheel, and I instantly lost feeling in my legs," O'Brien recalled.
Her OB-GYN advised that she head into the emergency room to be checked out, as she was already dealing with a difficult pregnancy.
She would remain at the hospital until Sunday, Feb. 19, when she says staff at Corewell Health Grand Rapids felt she could safely be induced.
“They started the process at 8:30 in the morning ... I took a little nap from 10:00 to like 1:00,” she explained.
While she was staying at the hospital, leading up to her inducement, two of her older children were being cared for by two people Amanda has known for the past three years.
She had always thought highly of the pair, saying her kids loved staying with them on previous occasions.
“I woke up [in the delivery room], seen I had a missed call from the people my children were with ... I called them back, and she informed me that Kaiyanni was throwing up, and that her stomach was bloated," O'Brien said.
"I said, 'Take her to the Children's Hospital and I'll meet you downstairs.'"
Amanda had three kids before her youngest daughter was born on Monday — her daughter Kaiyanni is fewer than two years old.
She receives another panicked call, with the pair telling her that Kaiyanni was now in an ambulance.
Soon after that call, several staffers came into her room saying she needed to get downstairs.
“When I got downstairs, I saw 30 medical staff surrounding Kaiyanni trying to revive her because she didn't have a heartbeat," she said.
"Moments later, the doctors came out and told me they were rushing her to emergency surgery because she had blunt force trauma to her abdomen.”
The next morning, as Kaiyanni recovered from major surgery, Amanda delivered her baby.
“Right after I pushed her out, I had them clean me up, and immediately removed my epidural so I could get upstairs to Kaiyanni,” she explained.
“I prayed for the best, but I prepared myself for the worst.”
After at least three separate scans, she says doctors informed her that Kaiyanni had tragically become brain dead.
“That's when every parent's worst nightmare became mine; they told me they pronounced my baby legally dead at 10:40 in the morning on Wednesday.”
Still dealing with fresh grief, Amanda had to make a series of difficult decisions.
“I have decided to do this thing called 'the walk of honor' and donate all of her organs," she said Friday. "So she can live on through other people.”
At this point, no one has been arrested in connection with Kaiyanni's injuries.
A spokesperson for the Grand Rapids Police Department told FOX 17 on Friday that they are still investigating the case.
“I’m still in shock," O'Brien said. "Reality hasn't set in yet that tomorrow I'm saying my final goodbye to my baby.”
The family has started a GoFundMe campaign to help with medical and funeral costs — you can donate by clicking HERE.
Members of the Greater Grand Rapids Scanner Calls Facebook group have been circulating the campaign and offering their online support.
They are hoping to raise an initial $10,000, with $2,570 raised as of Friday afternoon.
The family is struggling to figure out how to move forward from such an overwhelmingly difficult situation, asking for compassion and grace as they grieve.
"It was hard for me to hold my baby when she was first born, when she first came out, because I couldn’t fathom bringing her home ... while her big sister was not coming home with me," she said Friday.
"And that's what my life has came to."
