A brain-dead Georgia mother was laid to rest Saturday by her loved ones who said their final goodbyes just days after she gave birth to a baby boy while on life support.
Adriana Smith, a 31-year-old nurse from Atlanta, was declared brain-dead in February when she was eight weeks pregnant, but because of the state’s strict anti-abortion laws her medical team kept her artificially alive in an effort to save the fetus.
Smith’s mother April Newkirk announced her grandson Chance was born prematurely on June 13 – two days before her 31st birthday – by emergency Cesarean section. He weighed about one pound and 13 ounces and is currently in the NICU.
Newkirk said the name Chance seemed fitting ‘because I feel like he had a second chance at life.’ On June 17, Smith was taken off life support.
Over the weekend, those who loved Smith gathered together in an emotional church service as her younger sister Naya spoke to the congregation with sadness in her voice.
‘I just want to say that I’m thankful for the time that I spent with her. And I’m thankful for everything that she’s taught me. Her love, her kindness, her wisdom,’ Naya said as her voice trembled.
‘And I just pray that she covers me moving forward, and she guides me to make the best decisions. And family meant everything to her so I hope that I can follow in her footsteps.’
One of Smith’s former nursing school classmates then spoke, sharing a beautiful memory with her and her eldest son Chance from their time at Georgia State University.
‘She was a great friend, she was a great person, she was a great nurse,’ she said.
‘The memory that I will remember of her is us studying on a Saturday on campus. She brought Chase, I brought my son, we had snacks, we had toys, and we sat in that room stressing out over a med surge exam,’ Smith’s friend said in a somber voice.
‘And we promised each other that if we pass this exam and ever became teachers, we would never torture our students this way,’ she added, laughing a little. ‘We were determined to make it and we did.’
A meaningful poem, titled ‘A Light That Still Shines,’ was also read by a member from the Atlanta Metropolitan Nursing Honor Guard.
In it, Smith was called ‘a sister of strength who’ll never die.’
The group also relieved Smith of her duties as a nurse at her service as a member recited the ‘final call of duty’ in her honor and rang a bell.
Many attendees carried white roses in her honor as they exited the church.
Chance was born at around 26 weeks – three months early. Doctors had hoped to perform the C-section birth closer to August to give him the best chance at survival.
‘He’s expected to be OK,’ Newkirk told 11 Alive. ‘He’s just fighting. We just want prayers for him. Just keep praying for him. He’s here now.’
She was hospitalized in early February for intense headaches, and doctors found multiple blood clots in her brain, according to her family.
Doctors reportedly attempted surgery to relieve the pressure, but Smith was left brain-dead after the operation.
Georgia passed the Living Infants Fairness and Equality (LIFE) Act in 2019, ruling medical professionals can’t perform an abortion if a heartbeat is detected.
The law, which did not come into effect until three years later when Roe v Wade was overturned, cited two exceptions in the case of a medical emergency or if the pregnancy was the result of rape or incest.
A medical emergency is defined in the law as an event where the abortion was necessary to save a mother’s life or ‘the substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman.’
Abortions can also be performed if a medical professional believes that the child would be born with a ‘chromosomal anomaly’ where the baby would die after birth.
Smith’s case represents a complicated part of the law because an abortion wouldn’t save her life, and a heartbeat was already detected in her unborn baby.
Newkirk previously expressed the family should have had the choice to terminate Smith’s pregnancy.
‘She’s pregnant with my grandson. But he may be blind, may not be able to walk, may not survive once he’s born,’ she previously told WXIA.
‘This decision should’ve been left to us. Now we’re left wondering what kind of life he’ll have—and we’re going to be the ones raising him.’
Smith’s family have gone on to launch a GoFundMe page to help care for Chance and her seven-year-old son Chase.
As of Sunday morning, more than $460,000 was raised in their honor.