Thank you to all who contributed!
Final donation amount: $1,317 raised
Attorney Jim Sproat and his wife, Elizabeth, welcomed their first child into the world a little over a month ago. Baby James was born 8 weeks early and spent 30 days in the NICU at St. Francis in Greenville. In an effort to give back, Smith, Born, Leventis, Taylor & Vega, LLC is hosting a supply drive for the NICU at St. Francis. We are accepting donations of swaddles, blankets, and preemie and newborn clothing as these are the highest-need items. Gently used preemie and newborn clothing can be donated! We are also accepting monetary donations by clicking the link below. Our drive ends on Wednesday, May 31st.
My wife was pregnant with our first child this past year. The pregnancy proceeded normally for the first two trimesters. A month into the third trimester, the scariest moment of my wife and I’s lives occurred when she went into labor 8 weeks early. While at work, she went into labor and was rushed to the hospital. During the first few hours, the doctor was sure they could slow down or stop the labor to give our son enough time to develop more before joining the world. The first estimate was that she would be in the hospital and on bedrest for two weeks which then was reduced to two days to provide enough time for his lungs to get a jumpstart. And after 8 hours, two days turned into there was no stopping it and he was coming immediately. After being born, our son was rushed to the NICU at St. Francis Eastside because he was so early and had not had the time for his lungs or digestive tract to develop. During the next few days, the nurses and doctors there worked diligently to keep his oxygen saturation up while my wife and I stayed at the hospital prior to her being discharged. During our stay we spent most of our time alternating between my wife healing and sitting by his side, while he was in his incubator just watching him grow. Once my wife was discharged, we returned to the hospital every day to sit with him as his lungs grew and he began to tolerate more nutrition daily. Despite a couple of small setbacks, he progressed daily over the next month and ultimately met all his goals to come home. While there, the nurses and doctors would circle through the room fairly regularly and provide constant words of encouragement and notes on his progress. The nurses and doctors constantly went above and beyond to make sure that we were as comfortable and informed as possible and did absolutely everything they could to make sure James was comfortable and progressing. As the days stretched into weeks, the staff never wavered from their upbeat attitudes, constant reassurances and comforting words. My wife and I both began trying to think of things we could do to try to give back to the folks that had done so much for our family and had made us feel so comfortable in a difficult and emotional situation.
As an attorney for Smith, Born, Leventis, Taylor and Vega, I represent, exclusively, those people that are injured through the fault of another party. I often see those that are in horrible situations in their lives and have undergone a traumatic, life-altering event. It is helping those people that drives me to be the best attorney that I can to be able to help them as much as possible. The babies and families that spend time in the NICU remind me deeply of my clients in that they are all trying to come to grips with a life-changing event and hoping that everything turns out for the best in the end. I have never seen anyone more deserving of help than those babies that end up in the NICU and their families.
Over the 30 days James spent in the NICU we had a number of conversations with the staff and learned that the delicate clothing and blankets that are the preference of the babies there regularly don’t make it through more than a couple of washes. Due to the high heat and abrasive chemicals that must be used to clean anything that comes in contact with these most delicate children, they tend to fall apart fairly quickly and become unusable. The greatest need that they have for something that can be donated are those items that are as delicate as the little humans that they care for. As a product, we here at Smith, Born, Leventis, Taylor and Vega are collecting baby clothes in preemie or newborn size, baby blankets, and swaddles to help, in some small way, the folks at St. Francis that were so good to us in our greatest time of need to provide for their little patients they so deeply care for.
– Jim Sproat
Donation Pictures
