DEARBORN, Mich. (WXYZ) — Twenty-eight years ago, two moms, Sherry Krambeck and Audra Sackey, walked into the NICU at what was once called Oakwood and then Beaumont Hospital in Dearborn, to see their newborn babies.
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Audra introduced herself to Sherry because, she said, she could tell it was her first time in the NICU. Audra remembers how stressed Sherry looked, and says she wanted to be her familiar face.
"I was there for about 10 days before her, so I guess I was an old pro," said Audra.
And it was the beginning of a months-long NICU stay for both women and their new babies. Seeing each other every day, they developed a bond that blossomed into a beautiful, lifelong friendship.
Rachel, Sherry's daughter, and Hayden, Audra's son, said while their moms maintained their friendship, Rachel and Hayden weren't as close. Rachel and Sherry moved to Indiana when they were young, so the pair didn't reconnect until they were in high school.
"Sherry was here visiting and was like 'Hey, do you need a prom date?' And, honestly, I didn't have one at the time… and I'm like 'sure, why not'?" remembered Hayden.
When Rachel came back to Michigan to visit Hayden for the first time, their reunion went a little bit different than expected.
Rachel passed out and had to be taken to the hospital. It was there, at the same hospital in Dearborn - now part of Corewell Health- where the two were roommates in the NICU 17 years earlier, were reunited.
"I just remembered him walking through the door like 'Hey, how are you doing' and he gave me a hug and I was like 'Please ask me to be your girlfriend' I just felt so safe, so comfortable with him," said Rachel.
After 10 years of dating, the two people who brought these families together in the first place, officially tied the knot. Now Joining them together as one family.
