Dominique Hackey, a Virginia father, had to go through the nightmare of seeing his newborn son injured while at the NICU, allegedly by a now-former nurse. His son, Noah, suffered a fractured tibia back in September 2023, and in a recent interview, he opened up about the incident he has been denouncing since Noah's birth.
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Noah Hackey was, unfortunately, not the only newborn who suffered from injuries in the NICU. Four babies were found with injuries such as fractures back in 2023. Three more suffered similar injuries in 2024. This forced the Henrico Doctors' Hospital to shut down its NICU and launch an investigation. Henrico Police then arrested Erin Elizabeth Ann Strotman, a former nurse at the hospital.
While there is no obvious connection between the families, Hackey only notes a single similarity. Strotman's alleged victims were baby boys. "There were all different injuries, and two boys had multiple injuries," Hackey told Fox News Digital. "So far, in chatting amongst ourselves, we can't find a pattern of why our babies, other than that, they were just boys."
Furthermore, Hackey said that, while there was some speculation that Strotman's alleged physical abuse was racially motivated, the truth is that only two of the injured boys were Black. Hackey has been in contact with almost all the families allegedly affected by Strotman.
A Heartbreaking Incident
Dominique Hackey himself does remember Erin Strotman, describing her as a "nice" albeit "insignificant" nurse at the NICU. "It truly didn't matter whether you were there all day, whether you were not there all day. This person found a way to still hurt our children," he told the outlet. He went on to elaborate on the tragedy of his son's injury. Hackey said that, tragically, it was pain, not joy or laughter, the first emotion Noah ever experienced.
While the hospital has now addressed the investigation and Henrico police have also arrested Strotman, Hackey still finds the situation problematic. According to him, investigators rarely updated him about Noah's case. He also theorizes that the hospital knew about Strotman before the arrest as she was, reportedly, placed on paid leave.
Nevertheless, despite the injuries, Noah is now healthy and living a wonderful life with his parents and his twin, Micah. "Experiencing two miscarriages and then having twins, that's amazing," Hackey said. "And having them both here after being told you might lose one of them, the whole pregnancy and then after the pregnancy, it's truly a blessing, truly a blessing. Not many people have the privilege to be parents, and I was blessed two times over, so I'm going to do whatever I can to protect them."
Strotman is currently being held at the Henrico County Jail. She has been ordered not to be in contact with any child under 18. His next court appearance is scheduled for March 25, 2025.
