ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU/Gray News) – A baby who firefighters helped deliver celebrated her first birthday this past weekend with a very special surprise at her party.
Baby Cameron Marlin met the crew who welcomed her into the world and who also saved her life.
“She wakes every morning with a big, giant smile on her face, ready to play,” Cameron’s mother, Charlisse Walker, said.
Walker also has an 18-year-old daughter who just started school at the University of Alaska Anchorage. She said she was always nervous about having another pregnancy after her first experience.
“It was just very painful. It was a long labor, and I didn’t think I had it in me to do it again,” she said.
Little did Walker know that 17 years later the process would be much more distressing.
She found out she was pregnant at 26 weeks, and said the pregnancy overall was easy.
Then came Sept. 1, 2023. Cameron was ready to introduce herself to the world.
Walker said she started feeling tremendous pain that day and was advised to go to an area hospital.
However, after not making much progress, Walker said she was told to go home.
“The nurses were watching me and asked if I had someone to look after me if went home. I said yes, he’s on his way,” Walker said.
Once her partner showed up, the nurse sent Walker home. Walker said nurses told her if she experienced more pain or leakage to head back to the hospital.
Walker went home and decided to take a bath to try and relax as best she could, but the contractions got worse.
“The contractions were just getting more and more intense until finally it just was a pain that was everywhere,” she said.
Walker then went to the bathroom and felt a burst. She panicked, yelled for her daughter and called 911.
The 911 dispatcher coached Walker to push hard when she felt like pushing.
“And there she came,” Walker said. “She came right onto my hands.”
But Walker said her baby girl’s lips started turning blue and wasn’t breathing.
“Right when I didn’t have the strength to keep trying to keep her alive, that’s when everybody came to my rescue,” she said. “Just when I couldn’t do it, here comes Anchorage firefighters. All of them busted into my room.”
She says she’ll never forget firefighter Adam, who assured her that everything would be OK.
“He cut her umbilical cord, and I’m still trying to track where she’s going,” she explained. “He’s like, no, they’re going to take care of her. I’ve got you.”
Walker said firefighters delivered peace in that moment. She was able to focus on her well-being and trust that responders would take care of Cameron.
“I feel like God really did send me the help,” she said.
Cameron was in the neonatal intensive care unit for about a week because she was so little, roughly 5 pounds.
“Finally, I was able to get the strength to go hold her and see her for myself,” Walker said. “She was OK with a little breathing mask to kind of help her along those first couple of hours. Cameron was tough.”
Fast forward one year and both mom and baby are doing great. Cameron celebrated her first birthday last Sunday and was able to reunite with the crew who helped save her.
“The way she went to them and hugged them … like she thought this is my hero too,” Walker said.
The mother of two said she can’t say enough good things about the Anchorage Fire Department and wanted to ensure they received their flowers for the miracle they performed last September.
“I feel like they are genuine everyday heroes,” Walker said. “I would be a totally different person if they hadn’t shown up when they did.”
Walker said she appreciates the firefighters and their efforts but is still hurt by the hospital’s decision to send her home while in labor.
She said office staff was very apologetic when she returned to the hospital, but common sense would say she shouldn’t have gone home in the condition she was in.
KTUU reached out to the hospital regarding the situation but did not immediately get a response. heard back.
The mother said she wanted to tell her story to share the miracle that is Cameron and to shed light on systemic issues with Black women and health care.
Walker also said she wants to set an example for Cameron.
“The way she looks at me is like, ‘Mom, you’re the hero,’” she said. “So, every day, I just want to keep that look in her eyes.”
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