'She has feelings': Family of comatose woman who gave birth at healthcare facility comments on case

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Tuesday, January 22, 2019
Police investigating after woman in nursing home gives birth

PHOENIX -- As two Phoenix doctors who cared for an incapacitated woman who gave birth as a result of a sexual assault are out of a job, the family of the woman is commenting on the case for the first time.

Police investigating after woman in nursing home gives birth

In a statement made through an attorney, the family clarified that the woman is not in a coma but does have "significant intellectual disabilities as a result of seizures very early in her childhood."



'We had no idea she was pregnant': 911 audio shows panic after woman in vegetative state gave birth in Arizona care facility

The five minutes of 911 audio from the birth starts with a frantic nurse at the facility yelling, "The baby's turning blue! The baby's turning blue!"

According to the family, the woman responds to sounds and is able to make facial gestures.

The statement said the woman does not speak but has some ability to move her limbs, head and neck.

"The important thing is that she is a beloved daughter, albeit with significant intellectual disabilities," it said. "She has feelings, likes to be read to, enjoys soft music, and is capable of responding to people she is familiar with, especially family."

This comes just days after Hacienda HealthCare announced that two doctors who cared for the woman are no longer working at the long-term care center. The center said Sunday that one had resigned. The other had been suspended.

The victim, who is in her 20s, had been in Hacienda's care since she became incapacitated at age 3 after suffering a near-drowning.

She gave birth Dec. 29. The sexual assault triggered a police investigation and reviews by regulators.

Hacienda CEO Bill Timmons resigned after news surfaced of the assault.

The revelation that a Phoenix woman in a vegetative state recently gave birth has prompted the CEO of a private health care facility to resign, putting a spotlight on the safety of long-term care settings for patients who are severely disabled or incapacitated.

Investigators gathered DNA from men who worked there.

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