COLUMBIA, S.C. — It was a monumental occasion for dozens of families in Columbia.
After enduring a challenging journey in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Prisma Health Children's Hospital, they celebrated a long-awaited reunion on Saturday.
This event is particularly special as it's the first of its kind in over five years, bringing together families who have faced one of life's greatest challenges.
The Rard family welcomed back their son Sutton, who spent seven months in the NICU. His twin brother Sawyer passed away 12 weeks after he was born. The family said this experience has changed them.
“We had twins at one point, had surgery in Cincinnati, my water broke at 10 weeks and ended up delivering at 22 weeks, and we had Sutton here; he was 13 ounces," said Meredith Rard, Sutton's mother.
They say the nurses became their support system, helping them through their darkest days.
“Because of his prematurity, he also had a pretty difficult NICU situation and life complications, but he has come a long, long way, and he is a little fighter," she said.
Her husband, Kenny Rard, agreed that the experience made them even more grateful for the blessing they have now.
“We’d like to think that Sawyer, our heavenly baby, sacrificed so his brother could be alive and thrive, and when people ask us how many children we have, we say we have three — two here and one heavenly," he said.
Dallas Gallmann was reunited with one of her sons. Toben was born weighing three pounds and spent three months in the NICU.
As his third birthday approaches, his mother says she will never forget the joy of seeing her son overcome his battle.
“The NICU is special place," she said. "Unless you’ve been there — unless you’ve experienced it — you don’t understand the love that can come from there. These babies are miracles; they are tiny warriors.”
Nurses like Mary Romine, a special care nurse at the NICU who attended the event, said the reunion is worth all the hardships they encountered, and seeing the families together is what it's all about.
“It is really nice for all of us to see these children and see — they might have been a pound or two pounds when they were born maybe there or for pounds when left — and now they are running around, jumping, screaming, crying and eating all the good food that we have here, so its been really sweet," Romine said.
If you’d like to support these families, they will host a Christmas tree-decorating event for children in the hospital.
It will be held on Dec. 15 from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Prisma Health Children’s Hospital Hospital in Columbia.