UCF family pays off hospital bills with donation from medical society

“I got to peek over and see him laying on her over the thing and then they rushed him over in this table and they had to wrap him literally in a Ziploc bag to keep his warmth in,” Chip Warning said.

On June 11, it was discovered that his wife Melissa Warning’s kidneys and liver were shutting down with her placenta falling apart.

Their unborn child would have to come out the very next day at 26 weeks old due to Melissa Warning’s complications with HELLP syndrome, which affects the mother and child during pregnancy.

“She was hours or days away from not making it, too,” said Walter Warning.

Their son, Wyatt Warning, was born on June 12, 2015 at the Florida Hospital of Orlando weighing 1 pound, 3 ounces.

He was hospitalized for the next four months—going through his first surgery to repair bilateral inguinal hernias, protrusions in his abdomen. He weighed but 2 pounds at the time.

To help with hospital costs, the Pre-Professional Medical Society (PPMS) made the Warning family the recipients of their sixth annual 5k charity at Memory Mall this year.

The event was particularly special for Chip Warning who graduated from UCF in December 2011 with a business degree. He attended the Daytona campus.

“[The 5k was] only my third day out here, but it shows me what being a Knight is all about. How many years since I graduated and people are still sticking together,” Chip Warning said.

Roughly 100 runners, volunteers and supporters came out to cheer on the Warnings. However, the 5k is just one opportunity to raise money with the PPMS. The society also collects funds for families through car washes, partial proceeds, the medical school symposium and other events.

“We raise throughout the year and the 5k is kind of the big event so it’s all accumulated at the end and then we give the family one huge check for the whole year,” said Alicia Palm, 5k co-director.

The PPMS board picks a new recipient every year and there is always one common theme.

“We always pick just one single family so we can really see where the money goes and, I mean like this year, we can build a relation with the family and with Wyatt and make a big impact on the family’s lives,” Palm said.

The family is together now at their home as Wyatt Warning continues to improve. He’s fought off multiple infections alongside necrotizing enterocolitis and bronchopulmonary dysplasia, two common conditions among preterm infants.

As Wyatt Warning’s strength builds he is able to survive without the aid of medical devices such as oxygen and an apnea monitor. His uncle DJ nicknamed him “WiFi Wyatt” after going wireless from the medical equipment.

Wyatt Warning can even enjoy the company of his Australian cattle dog Toby.

“We’ll put Wyatt in his swing and [Toby] will lay right in front of his swing and protect him. I can’t wait until Wyatt starts walking at gets to play with him around the living room,” Chip Warning said.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, one of every 10 babies born in the United States was born early in 2014. Preterm births were the leading cause of infant death that year.

However, with each day Wyatt Warning continues to beat the odds.