NICU graduates reunite with those who cared for them

Children’s Hospital Colorado held its 38th annual NICU Reunion for the families who had a child graduate from the neonatal intensive care unit with their care teams on Sunday.

This was the first year the event will take place at the John Venezia Community Park on Briargate Parkway. It featured games, a tour of the Children’s Colorado ambulance, and a visit from the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo Zoomobile.

Stephanie Enoch was the oldest NICU graduate at this year’s reunion. She says she owes her life to the doctors who helped save her: “The reason myself and my siblings are here is because of the NICU. I was born with fluid in my lungs because I was born too fast. It’s such a scary time and it’s such a crazy experience, but it’s the nurses and doctors who get them through it.” Misty Jones, the mother of another former patient, agrees. She said the support she gets from the NICU community helped pull her through some of the darkest days of her life: “It really takes someone who’s been through this experience to understand.”

Officials from Children’s Hospital Colorado said, this year, the celebration is also in honor of the new Colorado Springs hospital location. They say the new, local, hospital will help provide more access to the NICU for babies born in the southern Colorado region.