Home News Local news Miracle Babies Foundation Honors Five

Miracle Babies Foundation Honors Five

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Miracle Babies president Cleone Boston, left, presents a plaque to honoree Siobhan King.Miracle Babies Support Foundation, a group that supports neonatal care at the Schnieder Regional Medical Center, honored five residents Saturday at its annual dinner gala at the Sugar Bay Beach Resort and Spa.

Christabel Douglas, whose premature baby was saved largely by the neonatal intensive care unit at Schneider Regional Medical Hospital, opened the ceremony with a song. Her daughter, now five years old, sat in the audience.

The five honorees were recognized not only for their support for Miracle Babies and neonatology, but for their contributions in the larger community. Cleone Boston, president of Miracle Babies, emphasized that it takes a community pooling resources to fulfill the goal of having the best neonatal intensive care unit in the region.

“Whether we realize it or not, we are all bridge builders in this community,” she said. “What we do today will clear the path for many more children to come in the future.”

Miracle Babies, founded in 2001 by Boston and three other St. Thomas mothers who had given birth to premature babies, has helped Schneider’s neonatal intensive care unit obtain state-of-the-art equipment for the care of premature newborns.

Honoree Siobhan King, a registered nurse, has worked in Schneider’s nursery and neonatal ICU for nine years, providing basic care to newborns and critical care to premature babies.

During a legionella outbreak on St. Thomas, King worked with personnel from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in investigating the cause. Recognizing the need for health education and awareness in the territory, she helped create a surveillance manual that would function as a centralized infectious disease data report plan for the territory.

Husband and wife Steve and Josephine Magras, owners of health insurance company Baker Magras Associates, met Miracle Babies president Cleone Boston when the foundation was just getting off the ground. Moved by Boston’s passion and what they felt was an obvious need for improved neonatal care in the territory, they immediately embraced Miracle Babies and remained staunch supporters from then on.

Honoree Jamon E. Liburd, principal of Joseph Gomez Elementary School, was honored for his long history of working with children and youth. He co-founded Future Leaders and Mentor Excelling, a mentorship program for at-risk boys at Lockhart Elementary School, and directs Camp Wesleyan at First Wesleyan Holiness Church.

Liburd was also commended for his handling of the recent emergency at Joseph Gomez when part of a walkway ceiling collapsed. Fourth-grade teacher Alison Ford, who was injured from the ceiling collapse, sent a letter honoring Liburd for his dedication as school principal.

The fifth honoree, Alexander Randall, received a standing ovation for his impassioned speech that brought the program back to neonatal care.

Although more popular as a media icon, particularly as WSTA’s “Good News Guy,” Randall has a more personal connection with the current condition of the territory’s neonatal care. For eight years, Randall’s wife, Dr. Beverly Banks, was the only neonatologist in the territory.

According to Randall, it was common for him to take his wife on emergency runs between St. Thomas and their Water Island home because a premature infant was born in critical condition. He made it clear to his students, he said, that if his wife called in the middle of a class session, she always came first because it might mean life-and-death for a “preemie.”

“Doctors say it’s not easy working with babies,” shared Randall, comparing neonatal care to solving a jigsaw puzzle. “They can’t tell you where it hurts and you can’t ask them questions. You have to figure it out.”

Randall also lamented how the medical system “shortchanges newborns,” as seen a greater share of Medicare funds go toward “prolonging the lives of old people than saving new ones.”

But in the long run, Randall insisted, “There is no greater return on investment than saving a baby’s life.”

More information about the foundation is available by calling Boston at 1-340-714-9603. Further information about the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit at the hospital can be obtained by calling 1-340-776-8311, ext. 3152.

Local disc jockey Rashidi Clenance served as master of ceremony at Saturday’s event.

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