While Desirae was pregnant with her son, Rixsen, she went to her local clinic for what should have been a routine 37-week checkup. However, things took a sudden turn. A low platelet count, strong contractions, and her high-risk pregnancy status meant she needed to get to the hospital immediately. The nearest hospital capable of handling her case was more than an hour away, but her baby couldn’t wait. That day, Desirae would give birth via an emergency c-section.

Despite the urgency, Desirae remained calm. Having had high-risk pregnancies before, this felt almost familiar—even as she was wheeled into the operating room. But all of that changed when Rixsen was born. He was diagnosed with Neonatal Respiratory Distress Syndrome and was struggling to breathe. The family’s pediatrician, present at the delivery, knew immediately that Rixsen needed specialized care and arranged for him to be transported by Life Flight Network to the nearest Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Kootenai Health in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Desirae hadn’t even met her son yet.

As Desirae was wheeled into recovery, her husband stayed by Rixsen’s side as the Life Flight Network Neonatal Emergency Specialty Transport (NEST) team prepared him for transport. Before the helicopter took off, the NEST team brought Rixsen to Desirae so she could finally meet her baby boy—and say goodbye for now. Rixsen and his father then flew to Coeur d’Alene, where he would receive the care he urgently needed. Two days later, Desirae was discharged and able to reunite with her son for the remaining nine days of his 11-day NICU stay.

This wasn’t the first time Life Flight Network had come to Desirae’s rescue. In fact, it was the fourth time they had saved a member of her family. Years earlier, her husband, Justin, had suffered a cardiac arrest during a high school basketball game. Life Flight Network transported him from Lewiston to Sacred Heart, saving his life. Desirae herself had been flown from Stanley to Boise after a severe chemical reaction while working with salmon in the Sawtooth Basin. And when she went into preterm labor with their daughter, Life Flight Network was there again, arranging a fixed-wing flight when weather prevented their helicopter from landing.

Most recently, they saved Rixsen’s life.

“Life Flight Network has saved all our lives—even my father’s, after his heart attack—and we are forever grateful,” Desirae says. “Without them, it’s likely none of us would be here today.”

Desirae is now a passionate advocate for the Life Flight Network membership program, especially for those living, working, and traveling in rural areas of the Pacific Northwest.