Giving Back to Oklahoma Children’s

Jake and Callie Merritt from Oklahoma City started their family in 2016 when they welcomed their first son, Ketch. Then, in 2019, the Merritt’s welcomed twins, Kacki and Klein at 26 weeks gestation. The babies were tiny — around 2lbs at birth and spent three weeks at an area hospital until Klein developed bacterial meningitis.

Bacterial meningitis is a serious infection that causes the thin lining around the brain and spinal cord (called the meninges) to swell and become inflamed. It happens when bacteria enters the fluid that surrounds these areas, leading to sudden symptoms like a high fever, severe headache, stiff neck, and feeling sick or confused. Because it can progress rapidly, it’s considered a medical emergency.

Callie knew her babies needed a higher level of care and looked to Oklahoma Children’s OU Health. Within hours, both babies were transferred by ambulance to the pediatric hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), where Kacki would spend the next 3.5 months of her life and Klein, the next 10 months of his. Through it all, the care team at Oklahoma Children’s was with them every step of the way.

Giving Back in a Meaningful Way

The Merritt’s felt they owed so much to the care teams that saved their babies and decided to give back in a big way by donating leading-edge equipment to the NICU and the Air Kids One transport team.

Their first gift was shaped by an experience that revealed how important it is to have timely access to specialized tools. Klein had a malformed airway and during an urgent tube replacement, the team needed a microscopic air-way guidance camera that was shared with another unit. At that time, it was temporarily unavailable, and it caused a delay in the team’s ability to intervene.

“That moment stayed with us,” Callie said. “If that equipment had been on the unit, those critical minutes wouldn’t have been lost.”

Their donation funded a dedicated airway camera for the NICU — and now both the NICU and PICU (pediatric intensive care unit) each have one.

Since then, the Merritt’s giving has continued to grow, evolving each year in response to the NICU’s most urgent needs. One major initiative funded a multi-disciplinary trip for Oklahoma Children’s nurses, physicians, therapists, nutritionists, and other specialists to learn from a nationally recognized chronic lung disease program — a condition that was one of Klein’s greatest hurdles. That training laid the foundation for building a similar program at OU Health.

Most recently, the Merritts funded a camera system now being implemented in the NICU. This technology allows parents who live far from the hospital or who cannot be at the bedside due to work or childcare, to see their baby securely on their phone or computer.

“It gives parents peace of mind,” Callie said. “Not everyone lives 10 minutes away like we did.”

Today, the ripple effect of Oklahoma Children’s care and the Merritt’s generosity reaches far beyond one family. It is reflected most clearly in the lives of the Merritt’s own children

The twins are now 6. Kacki continues to ‘mother’ her brother Klein and is a calm and quiet little girl. Klein, on the other hand, is the life of the party, always dancing and smiling.

Both children are thriving. Kacki has graduated from all therapies and has no developmental delays. Klein — who once faced a very poor neurological prognosis after a grade III–IV brain hemorrhage and hydrocephalus because of the meningitis — is now in kindergarten, cognitively thriving and continuing to make steady physical progress. His most recent MRI showed no hydrocephalus, no residual signs of hemorrhage, and no structural abnormalities, findings his care team described as highly unusual and medically remarkable.

“There’s no adequate way to say thank you,” Callie said.” We’re living our dream by raising our family and our home is filled with so much joy.”

If you'd like to make a gift to support the NICU at Oklahoma Children’s OU Health, visit our giving page.