Our Story
Written by Jason Kinney


Sierra Nicole - April 28, 2001-Oct.14, 2001

On April 28th 2002, an angel was born Jason and Linda Kinney. Our Daughter Sierra Nicole was born a very healthy baby at 21 ½" long 9 lbs even. We thought she would never come though. We had been sent to labor & delivery 2 times before because of my wifes' high BP. It went down and they sent us home. The 3rd time we went the doc said that the BP is too high and Sierra is already 9 lbs so they were going to induce 3 weeks early. Yes, 3 weeks early and still 9 lbs. She was born at 7:08 Saturday morning. It was the happiest day of my life.

Then life went on, but now with a meaning. When she was about 4 ½ months we went to Indiana to visit my wifes family. I got talked into quitting my job in VA so Linda could stay with her family a while. In the meantime I was looking for a job there. Oct 13th was a fun day. Linda's parents left town and we had to baby sit her little brother. Her 2 cousins were there and a friend. It was ok, they were all invited by my mother-n-law. We rented a bunch of movies, had a few ice cube fights and played with Sierra. Linda went to bed early with Sierra and my niece Heaven. Sierra and Heaven went to sleep in the playpen together. Heaven was 3 years old but Sierra came up to her shoulders. It was supposed to be our last night in Indiana and Heaven cried till we let her sleep with her. She had done it about 4 times before. Later that night Linda woke up to Sierra coughing so Linda got her medicine. She had a cold so we had some Pediacare to give her. Sierra didn't wake up so Linda let her sleep. She made her pacifier noise so Linda popped it back in her mouth. About 3:30 I went to bed. When I cut the light on to check on her and Sierra flinched a bit and turned her head. I cut the light out and laid down. 9:30 the next morning I woke up to Linda getting out of bed for the bathroom. I was sitting up in bed when she went to get Sierra. The playpen was at the foot of the bed. She was in the playpen because we were only supposed to be there a week and her crib was in VA. Most of the time she was in bed with us anyway. Sierra was a very light breather so we had a habit of touching her chest to make sure she was breathing. When Linda did that she felt nothing but a cold body. Linda freaked and grabbed her up. I was looking directly at her when she did this and all I saw was a stiff body with a big bruise on her right cheek from where the doctors say the blood had settled. I freaked out running for the phone and called 911. As I was on the phone my cousin hit the house alarm and the EMTs were there within a minute. They didn't even have to try anything because according to the coroner she had passed around 4 in the morning. Just 30 minutes after I went to sleep God came and took my precious little Angel home. Reason-SIDS.

Another hard part was having to fallow my father-n-law back to VA. You see, the funeral home wanted $10,000 per state line they crossed to bring Sierra to VA so they put her in a bassinette and put it in his van. By the time we got to VA my aunt had already taken care of all the arrangements and my mother and father gave their plots up for Sierra, Linda, and I. I think the hardest part other than the fact that she was gone was that my best friend, a good friend, and my brother (in my heart) filled in the grave. It was like tucking her in one last time. I had a hard time finishing but my friends were there for me and they helped me through it.

Today I am working on getting my life together and I have started a foundation to help other parents of SIDS babies. Linda and I are due to have another baby in November and are very scared but very, very anxious.


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