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PHOENIX, Arizona (July 29, 2022) – One year ago yesterday was supposed to be a day of celebration for the family of Alahni Sewell, but tragically, she passed away after being stillborn. A year later, the family honored her by donating a device that provides grieving mothers and their families comfort in such situations.
While her Alahni’s family was devastated, they were afforded an opportunity to spend valuable time with her thanks to the device, known as a CuddleCot. This pediatric mortuary cooling device allows for the grieving process to be gradual for the families of stillborn infants.
Amanda Sewell, Alahni’s mother, was extremely grateful to the staff at Banner Estrella Medical Center for their care and empathy throughout her stay at the hospital.
“This donation has helped us in our healing process because I know how much the CuddleCot helped me,” Sewell said. “The CuddleCot was such a gift to us because we were able to have three days with her — those are the only memories we were ever going to get, and they’re going to last a lifetime,” she said.
Hannah Fox, Director of Women and Infants Services, spoke on what the donation means to other families that experience such tremendous loss.
“It is difficult to put into words what a donation of an additional CuddleCot means to our staff and for the community, as parents and other family members will now have the opportunity grieve at their own time,” Fox said. “It is rare to see a positive moment come out of such an unimaginable tragedy, and we thank the Sewell family for their generous gift in honor of their beloved daughter.”
About Banner Estrella Medical Center
Banner Estrella Medical Center is a nonprofit hospital in west Phoenix specializing in heart care, obstetrics, general surgery, emergency services and weight loss surgery. One of the first fully-digital hospitals in the country, Banner Estrella has served as a model for dozens of new hospitals built around the world since it opened in 2005. Banner Estrella is part of Banner Health, a nonprofit health care system with 30 hospitals in six states. For more information, visit bannerhealth.com/estrella.
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