I enjoy photography as a hobby and with such a vast online community it is easy to follow along with some of my favorite photographers as I try to develop my own brand of style. One that I have followed for a while is Natalie Norton. I don’t know how I found her, but she is good. I’m not the best at keeping up with blogs and for a little while I hadn’t visited hers. Then one day I noticed her header had changed, “I am a wife a mom and a wedding and portrait photographer. I live on the north shore of Oahu, Hawaii with my wonderful husband and four crazy sons, one of whom lives in Heaven. Thanks for stopping by.”
Wait, lives in heaven? Holy…. What did I miss??? Her 4th son, named after her beloved but deceased brother, had died January 7, 2010. He was 2.5 months old. Her heartbreak and pain were all over her website and postings, completely palpable. I never knew her but could not help but weep for all her pain. Her son died of Whooping Cough (aka Pertussis, caused by the bacteria Bordetella pertussis). They thought he just had a cough and went to the hospital for fluids, fully expecting to be discharged that day. They left the hospital with empty arms; the illness took his little body quickly. It is likely that Natalie gave her son the disease.
We were all probably vaccinated as children with the DPT, DTaP, or Tdap vaccine (which also protects against diphtheria and tetanus). The vaccine protects you for 5-10 years. Adults need boosters. If an adult has a Pertussis infection, it will likely be mild and present itself as a simple cough or bronchitis. But for babies it is extraordinarily deadly (92% of pertussis deaths is in infants younger than 4 months of age). Having babies vaccinated certainly helps, but her son was just too young to have had the full rounds of vaccinations necessary to give him full protection.
She has many more entries about this tragedy on her old blog. It is tremendously sad. But, she and her husband are committed to being transparent with the grieving process to help others as well as themselves. They have joined the Sounds of Pertussis campaign. It is aimed at educating adults on the importance of getting their pertussis booster and curb the growing incidence of this highly contagious but preventable disease.
If you want to visit Evan or any other infant, I want you to be protected. I’ll get my booster after giving birth. Dad will get his shortly. Not only do we need to give our son every advantage, but as adults we should be on top of these easy things for all babies. Healthy babies get sick too. Visit Sounds of Pertussis or do your own research. But please protect yourself and the little ones out there.
News interview with Natalie and her husband
