Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
- A Utah mom, McKenzie McCombs, once in a coma from COVID-19, now supports NICU families.
- She and her husband provide gift baskets to St. Mark's Hospital families during holidays.
- Their project, inspired by their son's birth, aims to expand through social media outreach.
MILLCREEK — Four years after a life-threatening battle with COVID-19 and an emergency delivery at 28 weeks, a Utah mother returned again to the hospital where her son was born. This time, with gifts for families spending the holidays in the neonatal intensive care unit.
McKenzie McCombs was in a coma when her son, Coleman, arrived in November 2021, weighing just 2 pounds, 6 ounces at St. Mark's Hospital.
Nurse Rebecca Cobb said she'll never forget the day Coleman was born.
"That was the first and only one that we had ever done like that in the ICU," Cobb said. "We've had moms that came in to labor and delivery and had COVID, but nothing as severe as McKenzie was."
McKenzie and her husband, Brycen, spent nearly three months in the NICU.
"We got a little onesie that said my first Christmas, and when you're in here for the holidays, that's the last thing on your mind is buying my first Christmas onesie for your baby," McKenzie McCombs said. "It meant so much to us."
The gift inspired the couple to assemble NICU baskets for families at St. Mark's Hospital and other hospitals who are spending time there with their little ones.
Today, Coleman is a healthy preschooler, and the McCombs family has turned their traumatic experience into a tradition.
"We include bath bombs, chapstick — just things you don't think about bringing here, but you want," McKenzie said.
This year, the baskets also included journals and voice recorders to help parents bond with their babies.
"On the days that we weren't able to make it in, they would play the recorder for him, and then they would tell us, like his stats were good, his oxygen stayed up," McKenzie said.
Nurses said the gesture makes a big difference.
"Being able to hear that voice helps babies bond," said Cobb. "When parents come in, the baby recognizes, 'Oh, that's the person who read me books or sang me songs.'"
For families facing extended hospital stays, seeing Coleman thriving offers hope.
"They're able to see, 'Hey, that's going to be my baby in a couple of years,'" Cobbs said. "'They got through this really scary time, and I'll be able to do that too.'"
The McCombs now have three children: Coleman's older brother, Halston, and nine-month-old sister, Finley.
Recently, they started sharing their NICU gift basket project on social media. They hope to expand the project and create a community out of it.
"We want to also be able to share people's stories, or, if they've received a basket, kind of how they felt about it," McKenzie said.
Brycen McCombs said he remembers what it was like to be in the NICU during the holidays.
"It feels incomplete because…the whole family's not together for Christmas," he said.
The McCombs rely on donations to put the baskets together. To help, reach out to them on Instagram or TikTok, @NICU Hearts and Hands.
