Parents seek answers and a trial after premature baby dies of broken neck while in NICU

A shocking lawsuit alleges that neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) staff broke their premature baby’s neck, causing her eventual death, and then tried to cover it up.

Gianna Lopera and Jahmiah Peets were the parents of Jahxy Peets, who was born at 24 weeks in June 2022 at the Orlando Health Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies. Jahxy was taken to the NICU and was immediately intubated. Yet two weeks later, she was found to have a broken neck that left her paralyzed and unable to breathe. She eventually died from this injury in November, according to the lawsuit.

“She was small, she was only 1 pound 1.8 ounces, but she was a fighter,” Peets said.

According to the lawsuit, there was no trauma related to the birth. “This type of spinal cord injury could not occur without the use of excessive force when handling a newborn,” the lawsuit said. “There is no note in the medical record documenting the excessive-force event which caused this traumatic injury, and no indication in the medical record that an investigation was performed.”

“We never celebrated a single milestone,” Lopera said. “We only held her four times. It should never have been that way.”

The lawsuit claims that a health care provider broke Jahxy’s neck while handling her too roughly, and then returned her to her incubator without alerting anyone of the injury. At some point later, staff noticed that Jahxy had stopped moving her arms and legs, and performed a sensory-motor exam and an MRI, which diagnosed the broken neck.

READ: HORRIFIC: Baby decapitated during delivery in Atlanta hospital

“This traumatic event was either not recognized or was not reported and it appears from the records that an attempt to cover up the cause of Jahxy’s injuries was made,” the lawsuit said.

Nicole Kruegel, the attorney representing Peets and Lopera, said Orlando Health admitted fault under Florida Statute 766.207, which therefore limits the amount of monetary damages that Peets and Lopera can receive. “Jahxy’s parents are rejecting the admission, choosing instead to fight for justice,” a press release from Kruegel’s law firm, Rafferty Domnick Cunningham & Yaffa, said. “While Orlando Health acknowledges their negligence, they refuse to disclose who killed Jahxy Peets.”

Kruegel said she consulted with medical experts, who told her “there’s no way for this to happen accidentally” and that Jahxy’s broken neck was caused by “extreme excessive force.” Peets and Lopera were never given an explanation, other than one nurse who quietly warned them that they needed a lawyer.

“As far as the parents know, this person who did this could have done it intentionally, or if they did it accidentally, they did it because they don’t know what they’re doing, and they’re still in that NICU handling babies as far as we know,” Kruegel said. “The thing that really upsets me about this case is the hospital admitting liability and trying to push this case to arbitration. They’re acknowledging the terrible harm they’ve caused, but only for financial purposes to limit their exposure.”

The family is seeking at least $50,000 in damages, as well as a jury trial.

“Now we’re scared to even get pregnant because — now [we] don’t know if [our] next baby is going to make it,” Lopera said at a press conference. “[We] don’t know if the next hospital is going to make the same mistake with my second baby.”

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