Having a baby should be a joyous occasion, it was anything but joyous for an Ayden police detective.
First, the baby was still born and then his wife died a short time later. On Thursday, he talked to 9OYS about grief and the devastating loss, as well as the challenge ahead.
For high school sweethearts Jason Gagnon and his wife Heather, the arrival of their very first daughter couldn't come soon enough.
Detective Gagnon says in the days leading up to the early delivery, Heather who was a teacher at Moss Hill Elementary was ill, but ready to give birth. On Sunday February 28th she did.
"EMS couldn't get here in time I had to do it,” Detective Gagnon said.
But 8-pound Maycie, never made a sound, "The baby never took a breath. I tried CPR on it when it came out. It wasn't breathing at all,” he adds.
And once the couple arrived at Lenoir Memorial Hospital, his wife’s condition went from bad to worse.
She was flown to Pitt Memorial Hospital early Monday morning, but by Tuesday morning, the “energetic school teacher” was dead.
Gagnon says it will take weeks before an autopsy can reveal what caused both his wife and child to die.
For now he's focused on raising their three sons, and he has a piece of advice for the rest of us, “I know there's ups and down in marriages---you don't want nothing like this to happen…so live life to the fullest and be happy that you've had so many years--and that's really all I can say about it."
Every year 70 women die during or after child birth in our state.
Funeral services will be held for Heather Gagnon at the New Testament Baptist Church in Kinston.
The Ayden Police Department has set up a fund for the Gagnon family. Call Ayden Police at (252) 746-7015 to pledge your support.
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