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ANCHORAGE (KTUU) — A rural Alaska family is torn between feelings of grief and celebration. After a family member suffered a seizure, cardiac arrest and long-term coma, her relatives are saying goodbye — while welcoming a newborn they call a "miracle baby."
Shirley Jerry says while the family is deeply saddened by Jessie Ayagalria's current state, there is a shining light through all of what's happened.
"I could hear her laughing with her uncle and the other sister," Jerry said.
It was the last time Jerry heard her niece's laugh.
"Next thing I know they were hollering for me and I told them to call 911," Jerry said.
Ayagalria had been living with her aunt in Bethel and intended to marry her boyfriend when she suffered a seizure before going into cardiac arrest in January. She was revived and brought to the local hospital.
"It happened just that fast," Jerry said.
Before she was medevaced to Anchorage, care providers discovered something they weren't expecting.
"The doctor told us that she was pregnant and we didn't know how far along until we got here," Jerry said.
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