CURLER WHO ‘LIT UP THE ROOM’ STRUCK DOWN
RARE COMPLICATION DURING CHILDBIRTH
Saskatchewan’s curling world is remembering a loving mother, fierce competitor and fast friend, after Aly Jenkins died from rare complications during the birth of her third child.
The 30-year-old died Sunday afternoon after amniotic fluid had entered her bloodstream, resulting in an amniotic fluid embolism, a condition that proves fatal for about 20 women each year in Canada.
The newborn remained in critical condition on Wednesday.
Brother-in-law Travis Jenkins described Aly 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. She was a really good hockey player growing up. She was an amazing curler.”
With Jenkins serving as lead for Sherry Anderson’s rink, the squad competed at the Saskatchewan provincial championship, nearly qualifying for the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in 2019. The team came within a single rock of representing Saskatchewan in the national championship, losing 6-5 in the provincial final to the Robyn Silvernagle rink.
“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 just brought it. I don’t know how else to explain it.
“It’s disbelief. It’s shock. It’s anger. There’s a whole lot of emotions. But I think Saskatchewan people in general, when something terrible happens, we all rally around each other.”
Dr. George Carson, an obstetrician/gynaecologist who specializes in highrisk pregnancy and maternal-fetal medicine at Regina General Hospital, said cases such as Jenkins’ occur in approximately one-in-50,000 births, with about half of those cases being fatal. In Saskatchewan, which sees around 15,000 births annually, that means a case of amniotic fluid embolism would occur, on average, 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, or AFE, 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.
Researchers do not know if the reaction is caused by the speed or volume of amniotic fluid that enters the mother’s bloodstream — or other genetic or immunological factors, said Jon Barrett, chief of the maternal-fetal medicine program at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto.
In cases of AFE, approximately 20 per cent of mothers and 40 per cent of their babies die, while survivors can have lasting brain damage and other effects. AFE is more common among mothers of twins than single babies, and while researchers know little about how to prevent the syndrome, it has been associated with induced labour and caesarean section.
The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada is calling for Canada to introduce a confidential review of maternal mortality, by which health-care systems would launch inquiries following maternal deaths.
“No one understands very viscerally that these things can happen,” says Jennifer Blake, CEO of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada. “They can happen in spite of the bestlaid plans.”
Curl Saskatchewan said in a Facebook post that the “hearts of the Saskatchewan curling community ache” over Jenkins’ death.
Synergy Strength in Warman, where Jenkins was a member, said their “hearts are broken” as the family goes “through the unimaginable.”
Jenkins studied at the University of Saskatchewan, where she received a master’s degree in physical therapy.
Friends and family by the hundreds took to social media to express their condolences. Businesses and local teams, not only in their home community of Warman but throughout the province, did the same.
In a Facebook post, Aly Jenkins’ aunt, Stephanie Thomson, remembered her niece when she was young, with “your 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 said he remembered her “being the first girl I ever seen play on the boys Fort Falcons team.” Jenkins, McNabb said, was “a real-life superhero.”
Jessi Nyssen said the world “lost a gorgeous, hilarious spark of a person.”
A GoFundMe set up in support of Aly and Scott Jenkins’ three children — Brady, Avery and Sydney — had already generated more than $112,000 in the first two days. The page described Aly 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 in Warman, Sask.
SHE LIT UP THE ROOM, SHE WAS
VIBRANT. SHE WAS FUNNY,
SHE LIKED TO HAVE FUN.
— SHERRY ANDERSON