For most people who lived through the Northridge earthquake, the detailed memories have gradually faded over the years. Kim Karie, however, remembers every minute with acute clarity.

Karie, pregnant with twins, went into labor five weeks early at Saint John’s Health Center. Both Nathaniel and Kayliana appeared to be healthy after Karie’s C-section and were placed in the nursery. “About two hours later, a nurse noticed that Nathaniel’s breathing was irregular and he was moved to the neonatal intensive care unit [NICU],” recalled Karie. “Because the main valve to his heart had not closed and he had immature lungs, he had to be on a ventilator for the next five days.

The nurses were wonderful, keeping us informed and letting us bring Kayliana into the NICU to be close to her brother.” The day before the Jan. 17, 1994 earthquake, Karie was discharged and took Kayliana home, but Nathaniel remained in the NICU. In the early morning darkness of the next day when the temblor struck, the NICU suffered extreme damage.The nurses placed the four NICU babies under their uniforms, keeping them warm by holding them close to their bare skin.

Lighting the way with flashlights, the nurses carefully treaded down broken, dangling staircases to reach the street. Someone found a van, turned on the heater and the nurses remained with the infants. “That day I became a member of the Saint John’s family,” Karie said. Fortunately, Nathaniel grew strong enough to be brought home, and today both he and Kayliana are happy, healthy teenagers. “We owe Nathaniel’s life to the bravery and quick thinking of the NICU nurses, and we will be forever grateful to Saint John’s,” said Karie.