Mapleton mother credits neighbor for saving her baby's life


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MAPLETON — A close friendship became even closer after a Mapleton woman turned to her neighbor for help when her baby stopped breathing.

Jami Peterson said she moved to the Mapleton neighborhood in October 2014 and became friends with neighbor Teri Deyo, a retired registered nurse. On June 28, Peterson said her husband heard their 2 -week-old girl, Etta, spit up and begin gasping for air. He quickly rushed the baby to Peterson in the next room.

"My husband panicked, and I, in the other room, just thought, 'Oh, he seems to kind of jump to conclusions and panic,' " the mother of five said. "I'm pretty sure I just said, 'Just clean up the spit up.' I didn't think it was a big deal."

Peterson began using techniques she had learned in the hospital to clear the baby's airway. However, Etta was still gasping for air and began turning purple, so Peterson had her husband call 911 and rushed over to Deyo's house.

"I opened the door and the look on (Jami's) face was desperate," Deyo said. "She handed the baby (to me) and she said, 'Teri, she's not breathing.' "

Deyo said her training from 20 years of working in the ICU and cardiac floor of the hospital kicked in and she began working to clear the baby's airway. When yellow mucus continued to come out of the baby's nose and mouth, Deyo instructed her daughter to get a syringe from her first-aid kit and she began sucking mucus from the baby's airway.

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"(My daughter) had just reorganized the kit like a month before so she knew exactly where (the syringe) was, so nothing took too long," Deyo said. "I just had to continually suction it out until I could get her airway clear enough that she could get a couple of breaths."

Deyo said the ambulance took about 7 minutes to arrive and she continued to suction out mucus the entire time.

"I know it was only 7 minutes, but sometimes that 7 minutes seems like a sure long time," Deyo said. "It just happened to be that everything was in just the right place."

Etta was transported to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center, and after doctors examined the mucus they discovered it was bile from the baby's stomach. Unbeknownst to Peterson, her daughter had intestinal malrotation, a condition where the intestines get twisted and stop functioning. Etta had emergency surgery and was in the hospital for 2 weeks after a second surgery was needed.

"She had a rough first five weeks," Peterson said. "She was alive, at that point, for 35 days, and 20 of them were spent in the hospital."

However, Etta made a full recovery and Peterson said it's all due to Deyo's quick, life-saving actions.

"Etta is a miracle baby," Peterson said. "On more than one occasion, she is definitely a miracle baby. But it really did, it all started with Teri just being there on that Sunday."

Deyo said she was just glad she could do her part to help.

"I just look at it like, God has a plan for this little girl and we were all just a part of it that day," Deyo said. "I'm glad that it just went so well for her."

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