Giving the gift of time

Pauls honor son, start fund for families that need neonatal intensive care

 

Ten percent of the 3,129 newborns born at Piedmont Athens Regional last fiscal year spent time in the NICU. The fund provides families a week stay at the Piedmont guest houses. To give to the fund, visit piedmont.org or email athensfoundation@piedmont.org. 

  • Andy Paul looks at photos from a Fourth of July photoshoot the Piedmont Athens Regional NICU staff held for patients. The Pauls have helped raise more than $45,000 in memory of their son Jonah. (SARAH ROPER/THE OGLETHORPE ECHO)
    Andy Paul looks at photos from a Fourth of July photoshoot the Piedmont Athens Regional NICU staff held for patients. The Pauls have helped raise more than $45,000 in memory of their son Jonah. (SARAH ROPER/THE OGLETHORPE ECHO)
  • Andy Paul holds a picture of his son Jonah holding his teddy bear at the family’s Lexington home last Thursday. The Pauls have multiple mementos of their son Jonah throughout their house. (SARAH ROPER/THE OGLETHORPE ECHO)
    Andy Paul holds a picture of his son Jonah holding his teddy bear at the family’s Lexington home last Thursday. The Pauls have multiple mementos of their son Jonah throughout their house. (SARAH ROPER/THE OGLETHORPE ECHO)

    Lexington’s Andy and Jordan Paul are giving others what they consider the most precious gift — more time. 

     

    That gift is through the Jonah Paul NICU family fund, which has already raised more than $45,000 so families can stay near the hospital when they have a child in the neonatal intensive care unit.

     

    “We never wanted another family to have to miss those precious moments with their child while they’re in the NICU,” Andy Paul said.

     

    Born at 27 weeks old, but the size of a 21-22 week old, Andy and Jordan’s son Jonah spent 17 days in the Piedmont Athens Regional NICU before he died of complications due to premature birth on July 15. 

     

    Paul said those short days with his son had a lasting impact on him.

     

    “I never want a day to go by that I don’t speak my son'’s name out loud,” Paul said. “Jonah Albertson Paul is the best thing that ever happened, and so how we remember him is just knowing the lives that he changed while he was here.”

     

    Paul described his son as full of energy, so much so that he would need to be given medicine to calm down and rest.

     

    “He was spunky from the moment that we got to meet him,” Paul said. “He loved to move.”

     

    The Paul family said a doctor recommended Piedmont for their child’s care, and they never considered going elsewhere.

     

    “It was such a blessing,” Paul said. “We knew he was pretty sick, but just the connections from this community that were at Piedmont were wild.”

     

    One of Jonah’s NICU nurses, Jolie May, has known Andy since childhood.

     

    “I love all of my patients that I get to take care of, but there’s something about watching someone that you know and their child,” May said. “You just see little pieces of the parents in the child when you know them personally. It was definitely an honor to take care of him.”

     

    When Jonah was first in the NICU, the Pauls would travel from Lexington to Piedmont in order to balance taking care of their animals and family with their time with Jonah. 

     

    Once Jonah’s condition started to fluctuate, Salem Baptist Church, where they attend, offered to pay for them to stay in the Athens Regional guest houses, which are minutes from the hospital.

     

    Costing $60 a night, the guest house provided peace of mind for the Pauls. With traffic and parking, it could take up to an hour from the Paul’s home in Lexington to the NICU.

     

    “In critical situations like Jonah’s, having the family next door can be the reason that a baby is held by their parents in their final moments instead of a nurse,” May said in a text. “I have had the great honor of being that nurse, and it changed me as both a person and a nurse, but as a parent myself I can’t imagine not making it in time.”

     

    The Paul family started the process of creating the fund on July 24. Steven Dasher, executive director of the foundation at Piedmont Athens Regional, described the support the fund has seen as groundbreaking.

     

    Using Facebook and Instagram, the Pauls — Jordan teaches at Oglethorpe County High School and Andy is a public relations representative at Georgia EMC, in addition to serving as the youth pastor at Salem Baptist — have asked their community to donate, raising more funds and having more donations than Dasher and his team normally see.

     

    As of Oct. 2, the fund has received more than 173 gifts totaling more than $45,000, Dasher said in an email. This has allowed staff to more freely offer the option of staying in the guest houses for NICU families.

     

    “Oftentimes, it might be a dozen or so people (who typically donate), but with Jordan and Andy, it's been 160 or so people, which is just incredible,” Dasher said. 

     

    Paul said he’s used his fundraising as a way to process grief and connect with others. 

     

    “Social media has allowed me to connect with a few folks that way, that have experienced that, and then this fund has just brought a spark back for me,” Paul said.

     

    He said his faith and the support from the Oglethorpe County community have helped during this period of grief, receiving kind words in the grocery store or support from their church. 

     

    “I don’t think there are enough words to describe how great it is to live in this small town, where people know people, where people love people, and where people support people,” Paul said. “If I could share one thing, it's just a thank you to this county for just loving us so well in all of this.”