Watch: Decades-Long Coma Patient Mysteriously Giving Birth Draws Major Shock, Disbelief From Caregivers
Police bodycam video from a 5-year-old case is no less dramatic for its age.
The newly released footage shows the reaction of health care workers and staff at Hacienda Healthcare shortly after one of its patients, who had been in a coma for decades, unexpectedly gave birth.
No one knew that the woman was pregnant, and shocked workers called 911 after a baby boy was born and did not breathe at first, according to KPHO.
The video is dated Dec. 29, 2018, and Christmas decorations are clearly visible as the police officer moves about the facility and interviews staff members.
“And when I looked, it was a [incomprehensible]. The baby coming,” a nurse told the officer.
You can see KPHO’s coverage here:
An unnamed former employee of the facility whom KHPO referred to as a “longtime source” told the outlet that the aide who first saw the baby was “traumatized.”
“When she opened the diaper, there was a head. And that poor aide didn’t work for a month. She was so distraught, so traumatized by the whole thing,” the source said.
In the video, the officer was told that no male caregivers had had access to the victim, who was 29 at the time and had been in a vegetative state for decades after nearly drowning as a 3-year-old.
A court-ordered DNA test ultimately showed that nurse Nathan Sutherland was the baby’s biological father.
Sutherland pleaded guilty to two felony charges and received the maximum sentence permitted at the time, 10 years.
The nearly three years Sutherland had spent in jail prior to his sentencing was credited to his time, but he will be required to register as a sex offender following his release, and will spend the rest of his life on supervised probation, the Arizona Republic reported at the time.
“To the victim — I’m sorry,” Sutherland said at his sentencing, according to the Republic. “You didn’t deserve to be hurt no matter what was going on in my personal life and the demons I was fighting. I had no right to put you through that. No words can express how painfully sorry I am.”
“Seeing video from that night almost 5 years ago is still gut-wrenching. Our hearts again go out to the victim and her family – and we remain disgusted by the behavior of the nurse who harmed a patient,” Hacienda Healthcare said in a statement last week.
“Nothing can change that awful day, but we have worked diligently every day since to make sure no one in our care ever again suffers harm.”
KPHO reported that the boy will turn five in December and was walking and talking but still unaware of the circumstances of his birth. His mother’s family transferred her to another facility in Phoenix after the attack, the outlet said, where she remains healthy.
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