A new mother's worst nightmare came to fruition when, on her first day back to work following maternity leave, she received a call from a Lehigh Valley day care center that her 3-month-old daughter was not breathing.
Authorities said McKenna Felmly was found unresponsive at Sharon's Day Care and was pronounced dead at a Carbon County hospital on April 1. The cause of death is still under investigation, and toxicology and viral tests are pending.
The Allentown Morning Call said the Carbon County Coroner's Office reported "no signs of trauma."
A GoFundMe page created by the child's family in her memory and to raise money related to the costs of her death recounted their version of the events that day.
The child's father, Bryan S. Felmly, writes:
[Her mother] Adrienne [Kromer] dropped her off around 7:45 am and she seemed fine. No signs of illness or distress. Nothing. She called three different times to see how McKenna was doing since this was the first day she had been away from her Mommy longer than like an hour and a half. The daycare said she was doing fine in the morning.
The account goes on to say:
Daycare said she went to check on her at 3 to wake her up and feed her before Adrienne got there and she wasn't breathing. I guess she then called 911. We later found out that 911 was not dispatched until 3:33. When we arrived at the hospital, they wouldn't let us back. They put us in a room and said the doctor would be out to talk to us. The doctor came in and said, it's not looking good momma... Adrienne screamed. I lost it. About ten minutes later they tell us they couldn't save her.
Our sweet little princess never learned to walk, but she now has wings.
To read the family's full account or to donate to the cause, visit GoFundMe.