UNEXPECTED LOSS
Family, curlers remember Aly Jenkins
The curling world is remembering a loving mother, fierce competitor and fast friend, after Aly Jenkins died from complications during the birth of her third child.
Jenkins, a 30-year-old member of Sherry Anderson’s Saskatoon-based rink, died Sunday afternoon during the delivery of her daughter Sydney.
Travis Jenkins, Aly’s brother-inlaw, described her as “the best mom. She was so good to my brother.
“I never dreamed of having a sister-in-law that could potentially beat me at a sport. And I was scared that she could beat me. She was a really good golfer, growing up she was a really good hockey player. She was an amazing curler.”
Travis said baby Sydney remains in the neonatal intensive care unit, with family members taking shifts to be at her bedside.
“I know Aly wouldn’t want her to be alone,” he said, adding that both sides of the family have come together.
“It’s just been a roller-coaster, obviously. There’s been a lot of family and friends supporting at the house, so it’s nice to go home for a few hours and just have people there to talk to.”
With Jenkins serving as lead for Anderson’s rink, the squad competed at the Saskatchewan provincial championships, coming within a single stone of qualifying for the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in 2019.
“She lit up the room, she was vibrant. She was funny, she liked to have fun,” Anderson said in an interview.
“She was a competitor out on the ice,” she said. “She just brought it. I don’t know how else to explain it.”
Friends and family took to social media by the hundreds to express their condolences. Businesses and local teams throughout the province did the same. Jay Onrait and Dan O’toole, on TSN’S Sportscentre, shared well-wishes for the family.
In a Facebook post, Aly Jenkins’ aunt, Stephanie Thomson, remembered her niece with “your of an beautiful golden hair and your sassy attitude and your energetic spirit — but also your nurturing and loving heart.”
Kory Mcnabb, a cousin and friend of Jenkins, said in a Facebook post that he remembered her “being the first girl I ever seen play on the boys Fort Falcons team.” Jenkins was “a real-life superhero,” Mcnabb said.
According to The Canadian Press, Jenkins died of an amniotic fluid embolism.
Dr. George Carson, an obstetrician/gynaecologist who specializes in high-risk pregnancy and maternal-fetal medicine at Regina General Hospital, said amniotic fluid embolisms are extremely rare, occurring in about one in 50,000 births, and about half of those cases are fatal. In Saskatchewan, where around 15,000 babies are born annually, that means a case would occur, at most, approximately once every three years.
“We don’t know for sure why it happens. We do know that it’s very rare,” Carson said.
An amniotic fluid embolism, which Carson described as “an enormous catastrophe,” occurs when amniotic fluid gets into the mother’s bloodstream either during childbirth or within about half an hour after a baby has been delivered. It results in the “sudden collapse of the function of the circulation and the breathing,” he said, as well as hemorrhaging and impeded blood clotting.
Carson said patient deaths are a rare and tragic experience in obstetrics, which is “normally one of the happiest places in medicine.
“It is devastating for the care providers. Hopefully, they would be able to support one another and be told ‘You did the best you could, I’m sorry it didn’t work, but understand,’ — the chance of being successful was low no matter what anyone did.”
In a statement, the Saskatchewan Health Authority said all rare medical occurrences are subject to clinical review, where the professionals involved look over the occurrence to see if any aspect of the response could be improved, and where staff would be offered access to supports.
A Gofundme campaign was set up in support of the Jenkins’s three children: Brady, Avery and Sydney.
In the first two days, the campaign had already generated more than $112,000. The page described Jenkins as “a loving mom, wife, daughter, sister, co-worker and friend that touched the hearts of everyone she met.”
“The support is absolutely amazing,” Travis Jenkins said.
Her funeral is scheduled to take place Sunday at 2 p.m. at Brian King Centre in Warman.