On May 13th, 2024 we had a beautiful baby boy named Camden Jack Hone. He weighed in at 6lbs 4oz, measuring 20.5 inches. He was born pink and crying vigorously, with jet black hair just like his mommy; he was truly such a beautiful baby! It was such a relief to see him breathing normally and have good color because we had been watching his heart for a potential coarctation of the aorta from 29 weeks onward. He had 3 fetal ECHOs and a cardiac MRI only two weeks before birth, all showing a slightly narrowed aortic arch, with no other concern for structural heart defects which was a reassuring sign that his heart was likely normal. Laying on his mommy’s chest for skin to skin, Mommy was telling him about his brother Ripken and his dogs Hank and Gus. Camden went into respiratory distress and his skin started to turn purple while he began grunting and struggling to breathe. He was quickly taken to the warmer and found to have a slower than normal heart rate. He turned shock-white and underwent intubation and CPR. Despite the breathing tube and many rounds of CPR, Camden’s heart was still not beating properly and was emergently cannulated to ECMO (cardiopulmonary bypass) and taken to the NICU. Cam’s lungs were bleeding profusely and he developed complications from the ECMO that impacted his blood’s ability to clot, which caused him ultimately to bleed and clot excessively. The ECMO was not able to pump blood effectively because of the excessive clotting, and despite the best efforts of all of the doctors and nurses at Children's Hospital, our sweet baby’s heart never beat again and we made the difficult decision to let him go. It was impossible to comprehend the thought of saying goodbye to our precious son only hours after first meeting him, but we couldn’t watch our sweet boy suffer any longer. The entire team at Children’s made sure we felt supported and cared for, and helped us memorialize him by taking photos of him, getting imprints of his tiny hands and feet, and preparing locks of his hair, the only part of Camden we would get to take home. The care and empathy we received from everyone at Children’s made a truly horrific experience bearable. They were patient and compassionate while answering all of our questions, and have spent hours reviewing his case in hopes to uncover an explanation for what caused his initial cardiac arrest. Unfortunately, almost a year later we still don’t have those answers. The relationships we’ve formed with the caregivers at Children’s have profoundly impacted our family and eased this healing process. Our son is physically gone, and his absence has changed our family forever but we hope that he will continue to live on in our hearts and through events like the Courage Classic, where we can ride in honor of his beautiful legacy and raise awareness for infant loss. Though his life was brief, Camden’s impact has been profound. Thanks to everyone who has supported us on our journey to Jam for Cam! **Update August 2025: We are proud to designate the funds we raised for Jam for Cam to the Heart Institute at Children's Hospital Colorado. The impact this group of doctors and providers have had on our healing journey after the death of our son has been profound. Their brilliance and compassion cannot be matched (in my humble, ICU nurse, postpartum, grieving mother opinion). Thank you for the multiple ways in which you provide care for children, families, and expecting mothers facing uncertain outcomes. Our son Ripken thanks you for keeping his mommy afloat during some of the worst waves. Thank you to everyone who donated and allowed us to give back to the Heart Institute. Every interaction we had from the receptionist to the ECHO sonographers to the cardiologists who spent hours in darkened rooms reviewing our son's imaging and explaining in detail all the angles and shadows and interpretations of such a specialized and complex science and medical field. I am grateful for you every single day and hope you know the impacts you continue to have on our family. May that continue to drive you when the hours are long and your eyes are strained and your own cup needs refilling. The difference you make is so much bigger than what you do for a living, and I'll never be able to thank you enough, and hope Cam's impact can only help future babies and families, and that you can think of him and smile at his beautiful legacy this Children's community has helped us build. **
With humble gratitude,
Camden Jack's Mommy
