Firefighter's Baby Serves 'Great Purpose' After Coronavirus Death

NEW YORK CITY — On the day Jay-Natalie La Santa left the world she had only been part of for less than five months, the signs that her young life might end from complications of the new coronavirus were non-existent.

Jay-Natalie, the daughter of FDNY firefighter Jerel La Santa and his wife, Lindsey Velasquez, had been under constant medical care for a month after she was brought to the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore in The Bronx with a fever, a urinary tract infection and possible bronchial infection. But after weeks displaying signs of improvement that suggested she would fully recover from the positive coronavirus diagnosis that came on March 27, the little girl that had so much life and such a big personality died suddenly of cardiac arrest on Monday night.

Just like that, the girl’s parents who had traded one 12-hour shift after another watching over Jay-Natalie and who had baptized their daughter in a private hospital ceremony, were left to grieve a death they never saw coming.

“We just knew she was going to pull through, everything was looking great,” Jerel La Santa told Patch in a phone interview on Friday. “And then when it happened, it just happened spontaneously. There was no warning, no levels in her blood that could have led to it ….everything was in a perfect spot and it just happened.

“It just happened so fast. For me being by her side, holding her hand, it just happened.”

Jay-Natalie had been intubated since April 4 when she was suddenly unable to breathe on her own. Since then, the two parents who had cared for their infant daughter and watched over since she entered the hospital suddenly felt helpless. Jerel and Lindsey, who have been together for seven years, talked regularly of how mentally drained they felt in their helplessness. But even on the days when they teetered on burnout, they believed that by sticking together and holding out hope, everything would be fine.

The illness, Jerel kept telling himself, was something that just had to run its course. After being hospitalized March 21, Jay-Natalie tested negative for the coronavirus. But as her bronchial condition began to worsen, doctors said they wanted to test the girl again – something Jerel questioned because the first test had shown no signs of the coronavirus.

Six days after what Jerel believed to be a false-negative result, the little girl tested positive. Jerel was beside himself, suddenly understanding that the virus does not discriminate who it enters. According to the Center For Disease Control, just two children between the ages of 1-4 had died because of the coronavirus and as of Friday, the CDC was not reporting any deaths in children under 1.

“How?” he asked himself. “I don’t know how (she tested positive). Was it the hospital? Was it the one time we had to take the bus with her? Was it the train? Was it the other children at the babysitter? You don’t know where to begin to trace it to.”

Jerel, a recent graduate of the fire academy who has being assigned to FDNY Engine 63 in The Bronx, wondered if he or Lindsey – who works for the New York City of Education – could have somehow transmitted the virus to their daughter. Both Jerel and Lindsey were tested and were negative.

Jay-Natalie became a candidate for the experimental coronavirus vaccine remdesivir. Despite the occasional times when the infant’s condition would slip, her parents kept believing.

Before Jay-Natalie was intubated, Jerel and Lindsey decided they wanted their little girl to be baptized. While hospital restrictions had previously kept them both from being in their daughter’s room together, the two parents were granted permission to have 10 minutes together with their little girl.

Standing inside a room decorated by their nurse and with a cake waiting to commemorate the occasion, Jerel – with the assistance of a FDNY chaplain on the phone to instruct him – baptized his daughter as Lindsey. A nurse stood nearby. Despite their surroundings and the fact Jay-Natalie had wires covering her, Lindsey looked at her daughter and saw a princess.

At the time, none of them realized the significance of the moment.

“That was the last moment that me, mom and our daughter were together,” Jerel said. “It was our last video together, it was our last picture together.

“It was our last moment as a family,” Lindsey said, finishing her husband’s sentence. “Even though it was 10 minutes, it was beautiful.”

Three days later, Jay-Natalie was intubated. As the day and the 12-hour shifts continued, Jerel and Lindsey looked forward to their baby’s full recovery. Early in the day, Jerel and Lindsey were told by doctors that everything looked promising and that Jay-Natalie’s vitals and blood work were the best they had looked in weeks. The infant was scheduled for heart surgery on Thursday to treat a previous heart condition and as far as her parents knew, everything would be OK.

But shortly after 9 p.m. Monday, everything changed. With Jerel in the room, Jay-Natalie’s condition suddenly worsened and a medical team rushed in. Jerel, who says he is wired never to think about death or funerals, began to panic and pace. As doctors worked feverishly on his daughter in what ended up being an attempt to save her life, Jerel called Lindsey, who rushed to the hospital and arrived in less than 10 minutes.

As doctors continued to work, Jerel and Lindsey watched helplessly as their daughter’s body lie limp. They both began to pray.

“God,” Lindsey said. “I’m going to be so angry with you for a while, but I know you took her, she’s gone.”

Moments later, a nurse came out and told the couple to go kiss their daughter goodbye. Soon after, the little girl’s godmother arrived with a fancy dress Jay-Natalie was to have worn to her father’s academy graduation before it was canceled because of the coronavirus. The godmother, who also works as a funeral director, brought a white fluffy casket. Together, Jerel and Lindsey bathed their daughter and dressed her before kissing her one final time and sending her away with her godmother.

Outside, a line of firetrucks from Engine 63, lined both sides of the hospital driveway, lights flashing. The same firefighters who had welcomed Jerel into their company with open arms last month, stood with their hands over their heart in a moment of silence as Jay-Natalie’s body was taken away. In that moment, the emotion the couple had held inside since their little girl died, flowed freely as both broke down, overcome by tears.

“It was beautiful,” Jerel said, holding back tears.

In the days since Jay-Natalie's death — a week before she was to turn 5 months old – Jerel and Lindsey have found themselves looking at their daughter’s belongings – both used and unused. They have considered plans they had made as a family. Lindsey wanted to have her daughter’s ears pierced and had planned to take her to the zoo. Now, the couple will plan a May 2 memorial service which will be streamed over Facebook Live.

A Go Fund Me effort raised more than $40,000 in a matter of two days as a way to help the young couple with unexpected expenses. Now, Jerel, 30, and Lindsey, 29, are left with their memories of their brief time together as a family.

They wonder what would have happened if Jay-Natalie’s heart surgery would have taken place sooner. Lindsey thinks of the way she and her best friend thought about how Jay-Natalie could have grown up to be the next Oprah, putting her huge personality on TV for all to see.

“You didn’t forget her,” Lindsey said. “That’s the message she’s letting out – I’m gone but I’m not forgotten.”

Jerel and Lindsey hope that through their tragedy, other parents can learn from Jay-Natalie. The lesson, Jerel says, is to never take time with friends and family for granted and to never assume the next day is guaranteed and that coronavirus only afflicts the elderly. As the two grieving parents prepare to say goodbye to their beloved daughter for the final time, they do so knowing that even in less than five months, Jay-Natalie has left a legacy.

“She’s serving a great purpose and even though we would have preferred for her to be with us and have someone serve that great purpose, we’re just going to have to be strong about it,” Lindsey said, adding, “We’re in this together, we’re going to stay strong together, and we’re going to say goodbye to our girl together.”