What Should Have Been a Routine Delivery Turned into a Tragedy
For Jared Wilson and his wife, Caitlyn, the birth of their second child was supposed to be a joyous event. Instead, it became the most devastating chapter of their lives. What began as a normal labor quickly spiraled into multiple medical crises, ending with Jared being the one to declare his wife’s final cardiac arrest.
When Jared, a young anesthesiology resident in Buffalo, New York, accompanied Caitlyn to the hospital for the delivery of their son, Gabriel, he never imagined he would be leaving without her. Instead of celebrating a growing family, he was left navigating fatherhood alone after losing the woman he loved.
The First Signs of Trouble
On December 12, 2022, Jared dropped Caitlyn off for her scheduled induction before returning home to care for their toddler, Lincoln. Later that evening, he rejoined her at the hospital.
At first, everything looked routine. Caitlyn received an epidural around 1 a.m., followed by a resident breaking her water. But what happened next highlighted how quickly childbirth can turn dangerous.
According to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, several complications can arise during labor—slow progress, tears, umbilical cord issues, changes in the baby’s heartbeat, premature rupture of membranes, lack of oxygen, shoulder dystocia, or severe bleeding.
Though there had been no warning signs, Caitlyn and Jared soon faced one of the most dangerous of these: a cord prolapse. Gabriel’s arm was raised near his head, and as the amniotic fluid drained, the umbilical cord slipped into the birth canal, compressing between his head, neck, and the uterine wall.
“That leads to a condition called uterine cord prolapse,” Jared explained later, “and it carries a very high mortality rate for the baby because oxygen is cut off almost immediately.”
A chief resident rushed to lift the baby off the cord while an emergency C-section was performed.
Gabriel’s Birth
At 2:02 a.m., Jared messaged both sets of parents asking for prayers. Just ten minutes later, Gabriel was born. He was healthy, breathing, and crying loudly.
But Caitlyn wasn’t out of danger. Because her epidural had only just been placed, she still had abdominal sensation, requiring general anesthesia for the C-section. That carried its own risks—particularly aspiration, when stomach contents enter the lungs.
During intubation, fluid and stomach acid rose into Caitlyn’s mouth. Doctors worked to suction it, but they feared some had already entered her lungs.
Initial Recovery
After surgery, Caitlyn was taken back to her room needing minimal oxygen support. Surgeons had stitched quickly and tightly, which meant more painful recovery, but at first, she seemed stable.
Still, Jared noticed her struggling to cough, as if she had “swallowed a swimming pool.” She had a history of mild bronchitis, and now her airways were inflamed and reactive. Antibiotics were started to prevent pneumonia, and Jared was reassured—“She was 27, healthy, no underlying conditions. She should bounce back.”
But she didn’t.
A Downward Spiral
Over the next days, Caitlyn’s condition declined. Her heart rate climbed, her legs swelled, and her oxygen needs increased. She was transferred to the ICU, placed on stronger oxygen support, but remained awake and communicative.
On December 21—Jared’s 30th birthday—she agreed to intubation. “She was exhausted,” he recalled. “I could see it in her.”
From that moment, everything worsened. Her white blood cell count surged from 10 to 40 in just eight hours, signaling severe infection. Her blood pressure dropped dangerously, and doctors faced conflicting challenges: septic shock required fluids, but pregnancy-related physiology meant those fluids leaked into tissues, further harming her lungs.
To make matters worse, scans revealed blood clots in her legs and possibly her heart. She needed blood thinners, but having just undergone a C-section, the risk of bleeding was dangerously high.
The Final Hours
By December 21, Caitlyn was pale but still talking. Twelve hours later, her heart stopped. Doctors revived her, but by midnight, her organs were showing signs of failure.
The last attempt was dialysis to filter toxins from her blood. But dialysis also removes fluids—something septic shock patients desperately need. It was a gamble.
On December 22, at 6:56 a.m., Caitlyn suffered a second cardiac arrest. Jared entered the room as doctors performed compressions. Wearing his scrubs, indistinguishable from the team, he was allowed to stay. At 6:59, he made the hardest call of his life—he asked them to stop. He declared his own wife’s time of death.
Life After Caitlyn
In the weeks that followed, Jared and his two sons stayed with Caitlyn’s parents in Utah. Her funeral was held on January 15, 2024. Jared’s parents also made enormous sacrifices—selling nearly everything they owned to relocate to Buffalo and help him raise Lincoln and Gabriel.
The contrast between his two sons’ births was searing. He had shared Lincoln’s first moments with Caitlyn, but with Gabriel, he confessed: “They handed me a bundle that night. He could have been anybody’s baby. I hate to say that.”
“When I took him home, I cried the entire way,” Jared admitted.
Remembering Caitlyn
Despite his grief, Jared holds immense gratitude for the hospital staff. “They were angels. She had the best care. Things just went wrong so fast.” His medical training gives him some comfort—he knows everything possible was done.
He takes solace in the love they shared. “Three and a half years with her was a lifetime’s worth of love,” he said. Though Lincoln and Gabriel won’t fully know their mother, he is determined they will grow up learning about her.
“True love is real,” Jared reflected. “It transcends death, life, distance, even motherhood. She’ll always be with us.”
👉 Jared’s story is one of unbearable loss, but also of resilience. Even in tragedy, he remains committed to honoring Caitlyn’s memory and raising their boys surrounded by the love she left behind.