TUPELO, Miss.—Greg and Vickie Sheffield of Mantachie recently donated more than 150 baby blankets to the North Mississippi Medical Center Women’s Hospital in memory of their son, Noah.

Noah was born 11 weeks prematurely on May 22, 2001, weighing only 14 ounces. He had a lengthy stay in the hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, going home just 12 days shy of his first birthday. Because his lungs were so underdeveloped, he depended on a ventilator his entire life. Noah died in 2017 at age 16.

The Sheffields usually donate toys to Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Noah’s memory every birthday. But for his 20^th birthday, they wanted to do something extra special. “Because Noah spent so much time in the NICU, we still have relationships with the people there,” Vickie says. “For this big birthday, we wanted to go back to where it started.”

They chose to donate blankets because Noah loved them so much. “Noah loved blankets more than anything,” Vickie says. “Because he couldn’t see, I think being wrapped up in a blanket made him feel secure.” When Vickie first posted on Facebook asking friends and family to remember Noah through the blanket project, she hoped to be able to donate at least 20 blankets. Instead, Greg and Vickie were able to deliver more than 150 blankets to the NICU in Noah’s memory. Each blanket has an attached card featuring his handprint and footprint, along with their favorite quote, “There is no hand or foot so small that it cannot leave an imprint on this world.”

 

 

 

“Noah was such an inspiration—he really touched a lot of people. He was always smiling,” Vickie says. “When Noah was living, our job was to take care of him. Our job now is to keep his memory alive.”