Keara is an ammunition specialist for the U.S. Army and is stationed at Hunter Army Airfield. Her husband Tevin is a firefighter for the city of Pooler.
Soon after they were married, the Drysdale’s decided to start a family. Keara had an ovarian condition, so they went to see a fertility specialist at Memorial Hospital in Savannah. Two years later, the couple became pregnant with twins.
“I fell to the seat and was like wow,” said Tevin.
It was a new beginning for the Drysdale’s because they say complications ended three previous pregnancies. In the early morning hours of March 11, tragedy struck when Keara spontaneously gave birth to their daughter Zara at 12 weeks. They called EMS. They weren’t sure if she was alive.
“You are just like ‘Oh my God, my child is in my hand right now’,” said Keara.
When EMS arrived, “They put her in a rescue blanket, which is a protocol for any fire department,” and Tevin said they took her to Memorial Hospital’s Emergency Room.
“The nurse came in and was like, I’m going to take your daughter to pathology now,” said Keara.
Keara says first, she made a special request.
“We wanted her to be cremated so that she can be brought home with us because we needed that,” said Keara.
Keara remained in the hospital for observation because she was still carrying their son.
Two days later, Keara said they got a visit from Memorial Hospital’s bereavement coordinator.
“She came up and asked would you guys like footprints for your daughter and we were like yes that would give us something to have of her,” said Keara.
The Drysdale’s said six hours later they received devastating news.
“Two or three other nurses, they all came into the room, they were like I’m sorry but we can’t find her,” said Keara.
Tevin said she could not believe it.
“You don’t know where she’s at? That’s inexcusable,” said Tevin.
Two weeks after losing Zara, the Drysdale’s lost the other twin, a boy they named Kyrie Preston.
That’s when Keara said they got a letter from Memorial Hospital.
Tevin said the letter told them, “We are sorry for what happened. We now have new procedures so this will never happen again.”
Savannah Attorney Mark Tate represents the Drysdale’s.
“To not be able to have the closure that ceremony would allow is just devastating to this couple. It is the kind of thing that shouldn’t happen and should never happen again,” said Tate.
There is a memorial at the Drysdale’s home for their son Kyrie, but not for Zara because they never got her remains.
“When I go to look at our son and say good morning I feel like I’m leaving her out because I don’t have anything sentimental for her, so I just say good morning Kyrie and say good morning Zara even though you are not here,” said Keara.
The Drysdale’s struggle to hold on to the memory of their daughter and son.
“I don’t want for any other parent to ever have to think that they’re going to be able to take their child’s remains home only to be told we can’t find your child,” said Keara.
In the lawsuit, attorney Mark Tate laid out four counts he believes Memorial violated.
Count One is negligence. Tate said it’s a felony to throw away or abandon any dead body or portion of a dead body. Count Two is Negligent Mishandling of Human Remains.
Count Three is Tortious Interference with Burial Rights and Count Four is Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress.
“Ordinary negligence says you don’t lose a human body and that’s exactly what they did. This will allow us to conduct discovery, it will allow us to determine what their policy and procedures were with regard to dealing with the remains of an infant, and it will help us hopefully figure out why this happened and make sure this doesn’t happen again,” said Tate.
Tate tells FOX 28 he looks forward to taking this case to trial and to let a jury decide what the outcome will be.
Keara Drysdale is seeking therapy five days a week and said she is suffering from PTSD.
We reached out to Memorial Hospital. A spokesperson said they can’t comment on pending litigation.