LAKE CHARLES, La. (BRPROUD) — Christina Breaux was nine months pregnant and getting ready to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Laura when her water broke — more than a week early.
Breaux, of Lake Charles, was forced to go to a local hospital to give birth during the deadly hurricane.
“Everybody had to sleep in the hallway, and we had to ride the hurricane out,” Breaux said. “The whole building was shaking, and it was really, really scary.”
Her delivery wasn’t easy.
“They had to put [my son] on a feeding tube, his sugar was low, he had a little bit of jaundice,” she said.
Due to the storm and its wreckage, the hospital had to transfer her son to Baton Rouge, but she couldn’t go with him.
“They forced me out of the hospital. I didn’t have anywhere to go. I have nothing to go home to,” said Breaux, whose home was destroyed in the storm.
Breaux was determined to find a way to be with her son.
“I just wanted to be with my baby,” she said. “I couldn’t hold him, I couldn’t touch him, and I was scared for him.”
Breaux and her toddler found a ride, praying she would make it to her baby safely.
“I didn’t know what we were going to do,” she said. “My thought was to get [my] baby and figure it out.”
She said faith and those who lent a hand helped her and her family ride out the storm. Dozens donated diapers, baby supplies and food. They even paid for her and her family to stay at a motel.
The Breaux family is still in need. She and her husband are both out of work. She has other children, and she says she needs clothes for her family. She said they don’t know where they will stay after they leave the motel.
“We’re gonna make it, one way or another,” she said. “Clearly, there are people out there that are willing to help.”