Emily was diagnosed with a yolk sac tumor when she was about a year-and-a-half old. The tumor was the size of a grapefruit inside her tiny little abdomen. Even though our Emily was diagnosed with this frightening form of cancer, her team of doctors and nurses assured me that Emily’s cancer was not only treatable but highly curable! Emily endured months of surgeries, grueling testing and rigorous chemotherapy sessions (which would last for five straight days). If Emily’s blond ringlets had not fallen out due to the chemotherapy, no one would have been able to tell that she was even sick. She maintained her sweet disposition and contagious little giggle through out all of her treatments. 
Emily loved to play dress up with her big sister, Katherine, with all of their princess outfits! Nate, her big brother, would read to her for hours and hours, the same books over and over. How Katherine and Nate adored their little sister, Emily!
Emily’s treatment had been so successful that her last MRI clearly showed that the tumor miraculously disappeared. In fact, three radiologists had to review her MRI films due to the fact that there wasn’t even any residual scar tissue left. Emily’s doctors said it was as if she never had cancer! Regardless she was scheduled to begin her last chemotherapy session on her second birthday, February 24, 2006. This last treatment was just to be sure that there were no traces of cancer left inside of her little body. We celebrated Emily’s second birthday in the hospital. Some of her doctors and nurses had planned a surprise party for her and showered her with gifts, balloons and the whole works! She had a constant flow of visitors to help with the celebration. After Emily’s grandparents left, Nate and Katherine came with me bearing cupcakes for everyone on the floor. I could not think of a better birthday present than being told that this was Emily’s last chemotherapy and she would be coming home cancer free!! Emily would finally be able to live as a normal two year old! Tragically, that never happened.
Sunday, February 26th was Emily’s third day of her last chemotherapy treatment. It started out as any typical morning in the hospital. Emily ate her breakfast while watching her favorite Barney episode as doctors and nurses made their morning rounds. Emily and her mom took a few laps around the floor with her IV equipment while she pedaled her big wheel with all of her might. After playing in the activity room and scrubbing the play kitchen set with the nurses’ stash of alcohol swabs, it was time for lunch and an afternoon nap. Emily’s grandparents stopped by for a brief visit. That was the last time they ever saw their little “Emmy” alive.
Emily’s fatal dose was administered at 4:30 Sunday afternoon. She woke up from her nap very groggy which was so out of character for her. She kept trying to sit up and asked her mom to hold her in her lap. As she picked her up to cuddle with her, she noticed how her little body was so listless. She kept grabbing her head and moaning that it hurt. Emily spotted her mother’s can of Coke that she had on the tray and begged to have a sip. She sipped the rest of the can through the straw in a matter of seconds. She cried for more before she started screaming, ‘Mommy, my head, my head hurts! MY HEAD HURTS! The whole time she was screaming she was holding the sides of her little head. Her mother frantically called for the nurses as Emily began profusely vomiting. I was just walking in as the nurses were grabbing her from her mom’s arms. Emily went completely limp and the nurses began to resuscitate her. Within seconds, there were doctors and nurses everywhere. Emmy was rushed to the intensive care unit as the team was urgently attempting to find out what could possibly be going so very wrong. Within the hour, my precious daughter, Emily, was on life support.
We held Emily’s little hand and ran along beside her bed as she was rushed to have CT scans and other tests to determine the extent of damage to her brain. Since the life support machines could not go through the scans with her, the nurses climbed on the bed and manually kept her breathing during the testing. This was so surreal to have this happening and still no answers as to why Emily was dying. This couldn’t really be happening! We should have been having dinner and talking with Nate and Katherine on the phone to make sure that they had their book bags packed and ready for school. What was I going to tell Nate and Katherine? The last time they saw their little sister alive was on her birthday, February 24th. They were not allowed to visit on the weekend due to the cold and flu policy. What a joke. No one got any sleep that night. We sat on Emmy’s bed holding her hands and kissing her little toes as the machines kept her body alive, hoping that we would wake up and this terrible nightmare would be over. It never ended. It just got worse.
The next morning the room was filled with strangers’ horror-filled faces as we were told of how my little angel, Emily wound up brain dead and on life support. Her mom and I were told that even though she was still being kept alive by life support, Emily was essentially dead due to the massive brain damage she had incurred. Our Emily was killed by an overdose of sodium chloride in her chemotherapy IV bag.
Wednesday, March 1st was supposed to be a day of celebration. Before entering the hospital, we had planned a belated birthday and a cancer-free party for our Emily. Instead, our little Emily was delivered to the Cuyahoga County Morgue.
My family has been completely destroyed by the preventable and tragic death of sweet little Emily. A pharmacy technician that had been working for the hospital for quite a number of years decided not to use a standard prepared bag of sodium chloride solution ( with less than 1% of sodium chloride solution). Instead, the pharmacy technician filled a plastic bag with a concentrated sodium chloride solution of 23.4% of which she had compounded herself. When the pharmacy board investigators and other officials investigating Emily’s death asked the technician why she had made this outrageous error, she replied that she did not know. She claimed that she knew that something was not right but she was not sure. The pharmacy technician was asked if she knew that an overdose of sodium chloride could result in death. She claimed that she was not aware of that fact. How can a person who works in a pharmacy and compounds medications daily not know that? At the time of Emily’s death, Ohio didn’t even register pharmacy technicians. In fact, there weren’t even any training or licensing requirements.
Emily Jerry
Emily, Nate, and Katherine
Emily in the Sand
![B0003784[5][2]](http://emilyjerryfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/B0003784521.jpg "B0003784[5][2]")
37 Comments
Robert,
You guys did a really great job!!! I’m impressed!
John
Emily’s story has really touched me a great deal and i hope this foundation goes very far and high in success years and years down the road.
Chris,
Your doing a really great thing. You have my support and my prayers are with you and the foundation. God willing this will be a great success.
That is a very touching story and I am very sorry for your loss. I am very happy that you are one of the few people that has been able to turn their situation around to help prevent others from experiencing the same kind fo loss you have.
Chris,
It was so nice to meet you tonight. This is an incredible website. My prayers are with you and the Emily Jerry Foundation. I wish you only success.
Sincerely,
Tammy
Chris it was really nice conversating with you tonight. I have viewed your website and it has touched my heart. I was with my husband Gregg at Flemings. I came home and gave my children a hug. My children our my world but you help me appreciate them even more. You are truly doing a wonderful thing, and I wish and pray for you and your future endeavors.
Christopher:
I’m sitting in Starbucks (eavesdropping by accident) and I heard about your foundation…so I thought I would do a google search…and found your foundations website.
I am so sorry to read about Emily’s terrible tragedy. I am having trouble writing this email because I am at a loss for words…what a beautifulbeautiful little angel.
I will now review the rest of your website to see how you are trying to stop this from ever happening again. Good Luck Christopher…my thoughts will be with you and your family.
Chris,
It was a pleasure meeting you last night, sorry we kept bumping you
Your daughters story really moved me – my youngest child is named Emily too.
My thoughts and prayers are with your family. Thank you for starting this foundation so others do not have to go through this nightmare you are living.
Dave
chris,
i am numb at the realization of what you and your family went through. words fail me right now. thank you again for finding strenght to create you foundation.
god bless!
I am so sorry to hear about this sweet little angel. I do not know the family, but heard about your story and my heart is just broken. I have a daughter named Emily Elizabeth and she just turned 3 on Feb 1st. They almost look alike. When I saw the picture of your sweet Emily, I completely lost it. She is so beautiful!!!!! This should have never happened and I can not imagine what your family has gone thru. God works in misterious ways and someday, you will be reunited with Emily. I just can not express how truly sorry I am. My prayers and thoughts will always be with you,
Sincerely, Erin Hughes (St Pete, Fl )
I saw Emily’s beautiful face on CNN.com last night which prompted me to read…. Needless to say, I was heartbroken for Emily and your family. I saw her face all night … all day today at work and still I am home this evening looking at your site.
I am overwhelmed by the incredible strength that you and your family have found… To move forward and fight … The need to find a way to keep something like this from happening to other families …..
You are an inspiration to me and should be to all parents around the world. You are making a difference when some of us would not have the courage to speak up. I would like to thank you for that. God bless you and your family.
Evelyn (Fredericksburg, VA)
While horrific what this family is dealing with, decades of progress in patient safety were erased by the manslaughter conviction of the pharmacist involved. Eric was not even mentioned in this narrative, yet he was given the blame for the error. Systems need to be built to protect people, not blame the easiest target. Shame on Ohio.
Dispite the injustice to the pharmacy profession with the prison sentence to Eric, this foundation is helping move healthcare forward by highlighting the need for pharmacy tech education and regulation.
We are human. Humans make errors. As long as a human is involved, errors will happen. We can decrease their occurence. Systems to prevent errors are the only way to decrease these terrible situations. Was this hospital using safe storage methods for concentrated electrolyes? That is standard in the industry and would have give a layer of protection to human error. That NaCl should have been stored in a manner to make it difficult to select incorrectly. Eric was not given a good system in which to work.
Chris, this story of your child was very touching and as I continued reading it just had me in tears. My prayers are with you and your family. Thank you for letting my know about your foundation, and I will also let others know.
the story is great it made me cry when i sat and read it all you all did a great job to your child i am sorry
While I was reading this story, I cried about 4 times. I am a Pharmacy Technician and this story compells me to become even more dedicated to my job and decreasing medical errors in my work place. I will check again and again and again at least 10 times, every single time I prepare a medication for a patient so I can avoid the same situation as Emily’s. So rest assured, that you moved yet another person, and this is one more person that will work 10x times harder to prevent medical errors in this area. Thank You.
Thank you for the treat at Starbucks today. I apologize for not showing greater interest in your story, but I did not want to upset my inquisitive and sensitive daughter.
Your family’s story is upsetting and tragic. I can’t imagine what you’ve been through. I’m glad you’ve found a positive way to channel your grief and anger. I wish you the best in your efforts.
I actually haven’t read the book, but “The Checklist Manifesto” sounds like it has some great ideas about reducing medical errors in cost-effective ways.
Thanks again.
Hi I am the lady with the yellow truck in the line at the bank. I really don’t know what to say. I don’t know how much help I can be right now I am on medical leave for four more weeks from work. I am a homehealthaide for deapartment of senoir and adult services. I have six children and have not much education, but I want to learn how to advocate for children. I hate hearing about young children lossing their lives and it nothing but an animal is abused or killed people protest for days and even weeks. Children are a precious gift from god. Now I love animals but our kids needs attention. So let me know what I can do.
I am a Tampa Pharmacist. I have launched a hunger strike against pharmacy giant MEDCO to bring awareness about its prescription filling policies.
Support me on Facebook.
Forward this to your friends.
Read my blog. http://ihungerstrike.blogspot.com/
-Raj
Chris,
I hope things improve in the medical world to keep any family experiencing what yours has gone through. We are always here to support you. Thank you for being such a kind person, and caring customer. My heart is with you and little Emmy.
Respectfully,
Paul
To Emily’s Family:
This morning, myself and 71 other 1st year nursing students began studying medication administration at a community college nursing program in Washington state. The first thing our teacher showed us was Emily’s story via YouTube. I do not think there was a dry eye in the room. I hope you can take solace knowing that we will never forget her, and that it helped us all understand how critical proper medical administration is.
Thank you for sharing her story with all of us.
Chris,
Your story is profoundly tragic and moving. As the father of three young children, 6 and 4 year old twins, all of whom spent weeks in the hospital when they were born, it is easy to relate to the terror and loss such an experience would bring. Our oldest was born with a serious heart condition requiring open heart surgery when she was 5 days old. We are greatful for the skilled surgeon and medical care that helped her survive and thrive but were concerned the entire stay that something could go wrong.
My company has the privledge of working to make IV mistakes and tragic accidents like Emily’s a thing of the past. Though too late to spare your daughter and your family from this senseless tragedy, we hope to spare thousand of others from injury or death every year. We hope your foundation will help educate and raise awareness of this issue while we work to provide the tools to make it a thing of the past.
Best wishes to you.
Michael
Hi Chris,
My heart will be forever touched by Emily’s story. THANK YOU for not only sharing and bringing awareness to this medical error, but also implementing steps to prevent this from ever happening again. I sincerely applaud your efforts towards the Emily Jerry Foundation.
Blessings to You & Your Family,
The Brown Family
Dear Chris,
I just read your story and I am so sorry for your loss. It was nice meeting you at Starbucks. Psalm 23
The LORD is my shepherd,
I shall not be in want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
He restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.
Chris,
We used to work together and I know how much you adore your family.
I had heard about Emily’s death, but never knew exactly what happened until now, and I can’t imagine the grief and heartache that you, Kelly, Nate and Katherine have endured. Your effort and dedication will save others.
Alicia Curtis
This breaks my heart. I was very surprised that there are no requirements or training required for someone to compound medications and vaccines in the state of Ohio. I am so very sorry for your families grief, that’s all on can say about such a tragedy. I hope that this foundation can change legislation and mandate the laws of pharmacy technicians.
God Bless you and yours. I can’t find any other words to express my feelings about your situation…..God Bless You!
WOW! I never heard this story! My prayers are with you and your family and it is comforting to know that you have used your tragedy to bless others.
Dear Mr. Jerry,
I would like to express my deepest sympathy due to the loss of your angel. I can’t imagine how I would be able to deal with that tragedy. Children are precious and their lives can’t be protected enough.
I saw the flier for the Fund Raising Event given @ Phil The Fire Restaurant and will try my best to attend. I missed seeing the date of the event, but will research again.
I will keep you and your family in my prayers as I know the feeling of losing loved ones. May God continue to Bless you and grant you Peace.
Vicki
Chris, just wanted to say what a great website this is, and lunch with you was enlightening to say the least! Good luck to you as you proceed with your goals and dreams! Peace!
Joe Paciorek
So very sorry for your family’s heart breaking loss as a result of a medical error. Thank you for raising awareness and promoting medication safety. Keep up the great effort. I still remember reading the Josie King story years ago when I first started a role in medication safety at my hospital. Sharing these preventable tragedies is so compelling and helps so much in advancing patient safety in healthcare.
Sue
To the Jerry Family,
God Bless you and all your friends who have experienced this tremedous tragedy and loss. While I can’t even begin to assume that I could imagine anything like the pain and suffering you all have felt, please know that I wish you all peace in your lives.
I admire your bravery in wanting to make some changes as a result of this tragedy. Just know that you all have had a profound impact on my family and we will do all we can to support your efforts.
Always in our prayers and wishes – God Bless you.
Chris,
I actually heard about your story in one of my pharmacy Techinican classes. I had to do some more research on this. It was a very very sad story and I am sorry for y’alls loss. She was a beautiful little girl. This is why I wanted to go through this training before entering into the pharmacy. Currently I am a front desk agent near Orlando FL and I found a great school to help teach me what I need to know.
Thanks so much for sharing this with us.
Jessica
Chris,
I have read through this story about 10 times now and it still moves me. I never quite make it through.
I find it equally moving that you could arise from this tragedy and honor Emily the way you do with the Emily Jerry Foundation. Keep up the good work.
Dennis
I wanted to let you know I shared your daughter’s story with my medical staff today. I manage a large medical practice and I speak about double checking names, date of births, lab orders, medication dosages all the time to avoid the very thing that happened to your daughter. The staff seemed to be deeply moved by Emily and how something so tragic occured that was 100% preventable. I thank you for sharing your story and hope that medical personel read it, understand it and apply it in every day of their jobs. Thank you and god bless your family. Kisha Lottes
I came across Emily’s story while doing a continuing education test that is required by the National Pharmacy Technician Certification Board. I am a Pharmacy Technician in Mississippi, and much like your state was, mine didn’t require techs to be certified. Luckily with a lot of pushing, we finally got them to require techs in Mississippi to be certified in April of 2011. I personally feel like all technicians or anyone working with medications need to be certified or at least attend classes. I am like you; I have no idea how this tech couldn’t have known the difference in those two drugs. So many things went wrong that day. When I read little Emily’s story it just broke my heart. To know that this technician knew something wasn’t quite right, yet she continued to mix this solution anyways. The first rule we learn in Technician school is to always ALWAYS ask if we have questions or are unsure of something. Your dear little girl’s story really touched me, and I hope that only good things come from the death of your daughter. Everyone should be aware of just how dangerous some of these drugs can be. I’m so glad you shared her story with the world. I wish you and your family all of the best!!
I just cried a little as I read poor little Emily’s story. Its so heartbreaking for a little girl to go through something like that. My heart goes out to her, and to you the parents. I support your cause 100% and hope it goes far.
Emily’s story was shared during a work related meeting today as we discussed latent errors. Myself, as well as others in the meeting were deeply moved by Emily’s story. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. As I progress in my role as a healthcare professional I will keep the beautiful image of Emily in my thoughts and actively work to prevent such tragedies.