The People's Study

Sawyer was Nick Kendall and Melissa Pike’s miracle baby. After multiple attempts to conceive were unsuccessful due to Melissa’s endometriosis, they finally had a baby boy. “When he was born he was beautiful and he was perfect,” says Melissa. Everything about Sawyer was healthy until around two months of age.

He had a virus, which caused a rash and cold-like symptoms, but no fever. Melissa and Nick cared for Sawyer during this time, and then brought him in to the pediatrician for his two month vaccines. They asked if the vaccines would be safe to give Sawyer, due to him currently fighting off the virus. The pediatrician assured them it would be fine, as he didn’t have a fever.

Melissa said the next day her son was fussier than usual, and she put him down for a nap. Thirty-four hours after receiving his vaccinations, she found Sawyer dead in his bassinet. “I found him unresponsive and cold. I picked him up and told Nick that he was gone. So Nick called 9-1-1, and we immediately started giving him CPR…we couldn’t bring him back.”

This became even more devastating when the medical examiner determined that Sawyer’s cause of death was asphyxiation due to improper sleeping conditions, resting the blame on Nick and Melissa. Melissa pushed for more tests, and finally got the answer she was looking for. “The aluminum level in his blood was 95 mcg/L. Anything over 50 mcg/L in an adult is toxic.”

Sawyer Kendall’s name is number 518 on the @CHDBUS