After what was intended as a trip to celebrate, it’s quickly turned into a downward spiral for a Prince George family.
While eight months pregnant, Gloria St John traveled to the Northern Capital from Alaska in order to visit friends and family before her baby was due to arrive.
On May 24, at her baby shower, Gloria began feeling sick and experiencing an extreme migraine. As a result, friends and family rushed her to the emergency room at UHNBC. It was just a short time after that she would be informed that she has preeclampsia.
From there, things would only get worse for the former Prince George resident, who grew up in the area and attended Kelly Road Secondary and remains to have several friends and family in the area. Over the next few days, attempts were made to stabilize her blood pressure as things refused to get better. As a result, an emergency c-section was performed.
On May 27, Jack Wolf was born at 4:30 p.m. weighing just four pounds and 13 ounces. Throughout the evening, doctors and nurses worked closely on Jack in hopes of improving his conditions but ultimately elected to have him airlifted to Vancouver’s hospital.
“Right after he was born, he was taken away from Gloria,” Jennifer St John, Gloria’s sister, told MyPGNow. “My sister didn’t even get to see him. He was taken into a room where they were working furiously to try to save his life.
Gloria’s husband, Joshua, who hadn’t made the trip to Prince George, was unable to make the complete trip to Prince George in time for the c-section to be completed. As a result, he awaited the arrival of his newborn son in Vancouver. Gloria wouldn’t be airlifted until the next day.
Specialists in Vancouver were unable to save Jack. On May 28, he was taken off of life support and passed away in Gloria’s arms, her husband by her side.
“They tried to do everything they could possibly do to save his life, but there was really nothing they could do,” said Jennifer. “By the afternoon, because there was nothing else they could possibly do, they had to take him off of life support. That’s the toughest thing you ever have to do is to have to take your own child off life support. It’s devastating”
The tragic events wouldn’t stop there as Gloria’s conditions continued to worsen, which led the family to be advised of her conditions and were flown to St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver to be by her side.
“Within the same breath, not even hours after, we get the phone call that all family has to get to Vancouver because Gloria’s condition has taken a turn for the worst and they didn’t think they were going to make it. So we’re all trying to process what’s happening in grieving over my little nephew, and next thing we’re on a flight to Vancouver because we’re being told she’s not going to make it.”
Jennifer added that Gloria is currently stable in the Intensive Care Unit at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, however, she is extremely ill.
With all of this, the family had been advised on Friday that her Medical Services Plan in Canada will not cover the cost of her care, nor the care her son received leading up to his death, due to the fact that she has been a resident of the United States for the past eight years. Health insurance from the United States will also not cover any care received in Canada according to the family’s social worker.
As a result, Jennifer has started a GoFundMe page despite not even knowing what medical costs await them at the end of this journey.
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