Woman was was smallest baby born in Texas now works at the same NICU that saved her life

A woman who was the smallest baby born in Texas is now working at the same NICU that saved her life. 

When Tammy Lewis was born in 1985, doctors told her parents that she only had a 5 to 10 percent chance of survival. 

She was three-and-half months early and only weighed 1 pound 4 ounces. 

Fast-forward 34 years, and now Lewis is working with some of the same doctors and nurses who saved her life. 

 

Tammy Lewis, who was once the smallest baby born in Texas at 1 pound 4 ounces (pictured), now works at the same NICU that saved her life 

Lewis (pictured) is now a respiratory therapist at McLane Children's Medical Center Baylor Scott & White in Temple, Texas

Lewis (pictured) is now a respiratory therapist at McLane Children’s Medical Center Baylor Scott & White in Temple, Texas 

Lewis was a micro preemie, a baby who is born weighing less than 1 pound 12 ounces or before 26 weeks gestation. 

‘I was the smallest surviving baby in the state of Texas at the time,’ she told CNN. ‘I was born at 24 weeks. Normal gestation is 40 weeks.’ 

She spent three-and-a-half months at the NICU of Scott and White Hospital, now named McLane Children’s Medical Center Baylor Scott & White. 

Lewis beat the odds and survived, leaving the hospital right before her actual due date. 

When it came time to decide her own path in life, she quickly became passionate about medicine. 

It is the same hospital where Lewis (pictured) was born. She was a micro preemie, a baby who is born weighing less than 1 pound 12 ounces or before 26 weeks gestation

It is the same hospital where Lewis (pictured) was born. She was a micro preemie, a baby who is born weighing less than 1 pound 12 ounces or before 26 weeks gestation

Lewis beat the odds and survived. When it came time to decide her own path in life, she quickly became passionate about medicine

Lewis beat the odds and survived. When it came time to decide her own path in life, she quickly became passionate about medicine

‘Once I started researching the medical field, I talked to a program director and immediately fell in love with it,’ she said. ‘I knew this was the place I wanted to be.’ 

‘I knew that I wanted to work with children and, not just children, but NICU patients. Not many people can say that you can go back to the place where you were born and care for the same types of patients that you were and give back that way.’  

‘I wanted to be able to give back to the patients and families in the same situation that I was in.’   

Lewis joined McLane as a respiratory therapist in 2009, connecting the same type of breathing tubes and ventilators that helped her lungs breathe when she was born.  

And the mother-of-two can now give hope to parents who are going through the very same situation that her family did more than three decades ago.  

Lewis joined McLane as a respiratory therapist in 2009, connecting the same type of breathing tubes and ventilators that helped her lungs breathe when she was born

Lewis joined McLane as a respiratory therapist in 2009, connecting the same type of breathing tubes and ventilators that helped her lungs breathe when she was born

And the mother-of-two can now give hope to parents who are going through the very same situation that her family did more than three decades ago

And the mother-of-two can now give hope to parents who are going through the very same situation that her family did more than three decades ago

‘To see a success story right there alongside you, day in and day out, working with your child, working with you as a family, getting to know them and showing there is hope, there is a light at the end of the tunnel,’ she told KCEN. 

‘I hope I can give them a little bit of hope.’  

Lewis’ own photo stands on the hospital’s ‘Hall of Hope’, which displays pictures of babies who beat the odds and survived. 

And now she gets to watch the children that she has helped save grow up as well. 

‘There are lots of long, hard days that everyone puts in and it’s very rewarding to see them grown up,’ she said. 

Lewis' own photo stands on the hospital's 'Hall of Hope', which displays pictures of babies who beat the odds and survived

Lewis’ own photo stands on the hospital’s ‘Hall of Hope’, which displays pictures of babies who beat the odds and survived

And now Lewis  gets to watch the children that she has helped save grow up as well

And now Lewis  gets to watch the children that she has helped save grow up as well

‘It doesn’t get much better than to take a 1 pound baby and then watch it grow up to a little human being.’ 

And her job helps Lewis never lose sight of her own incredible story. 

‘To be able to grow up and be an adult and get a job and have a career and be able to work alongside the people who cared for you was a truly humbling experience,’ she said. 

‘As I work, I get daily reminders of how blessed I am to be here today.’ 

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