Woman in coma gives birth

Assault victim has been in hospital since December

By Lisa Goldberg

JOURNAL REPORTER

WINSTON-SALEM

April 21, 1996

As their baby worked its way into the world, Jill Marker squeezed her husband's hand and smiled.

It may have been the drugs that caused that smile, and the contractions that caused her to squeeze his hand, but Aaron Marker would like to think that his comatose wife was thinking about their new baby, Barron Lloyd Marker.

Barron's birth at 6:43 Friday night is a happy note in what has so far been a sad 4 1/2 months for Aaron and Jill Marker.

Jill was found lying in the back of the Silk Plant Forest store in Silas Creek Crossing on Dec. 9. Jill, the store manager, was badly beaten, and money was missing from the register.

She was rushed to the hospital and her heart stopped beating, but doctors shocked her back to life, Aaron Marker said. Jill, who was about 3 1/2 months' pregnant, slipped into a coma.

Doctors said that the baby appeared to be fine, and Aaron Marker was left to make preparations for their first baby alone.

He picked a name and talked with doctors so that he would be familiar with the drill when his wife's contractions started.

So he was ready when the call came about 4:30 a.m. Friday that Jill's labor was starting. Her water broke about five hours later.

Teams from all over the hospital, about 20 people, were in the room during the birth. Some nurses came in on their day off.

"She was alert and had her eyes open," he said. "I held her hand through it. It was really weird because it was quiet in the room. Nobody was talking and everybody was doing their thing."

Barron's birth was natural. He weighed in at 5 pounds, 15.6 ounces and measured 17 1/2 inches long.

He has a clubfoot and purple spots that doctors believe came from on of Jill's medicines. He was put on oxygen. He was a bit agitated because he was not used to being moved around much, Aaron Marker said.

"Everything can be fixed," he said. "They can fix his foot. They can fix his spots.

"A lot more could have gone wrong."

Doctors told Aaron Marker that Barron will be ready to come home in about a month.

Jill, 34, had seizures from the stress of the birth and was temporarily put back on a ventilator. But doctors say they may be more rigorous with her medication and work with her more to get her awake now that the baby has been born, Aaron Marker said.

Authorities are worried for Jill's safety and have asked that the name of the hospital she is in be withheld.

Aaron Marker figures he can only take about a week off from his work as a chef at Noble's Grill because money is tight, and he is still trying to recover from the three weeks he was out of work when TJ's Deli in Sherwood Plaza closed with little notice.

But Marker said he is lucky. Jim Noble, the owner of Noble's Grill, learned of his situation from a minister friend and offered him a job a few weeks ago.

He could also draw from an account that was set up to help Jill by John Cosgrove, the owner of Gloria Jean's Coffee Beans, a few days after she was beaten.

Although Jill's medical bills are covered by workers' compensation, the couple will have to pay for a part of the birth.

Aaron Marker is trying to decide whether to move back temporarily to Akron, Ohio, where his parents and Hill's parents live so that they can help with the baby.

The last few months have been tough. Jill and Aaron, who have been married five years, always split the chores.

Aaron walked the dogs. Jill paid the bills. He cooked. She cleaned the bathrooms. When they learned that Jill was pregnant, they talked about the baby all the time and started discussing names.

"We had started on girls' names, but we hadn't done boys' names. She wanted something different and modern," he said.

"I tried to keep in mind what she liked. Hopefully, she won't wake up and say, 'That's a stupid name.' "

Since December, nothing in their lives has been normal, he said. Their apartment is a stop in his busy schedule that focuses on visits to Jill and work at Noble's. Jill still cannot communicate, and doctors are not certain that she understands English, he said.

So he takes his camera everywhere and records his everyday life in pictures. Then he tells her stories using the pictures.

There are already lots of pictures since Barron's birth.

"I hate that Jill missed it. She missed out on a wonderful experience," he said. "She missed Christmas and New Year's and my birthday and Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day, and now she missed her baby's first birthday.

"Someone took that away from her."

Police have made no arrests in the robbery and assault. "I think God's going to get him one way or another., I have faith in that," he said. "I have faith that Jill will be whole again soon."

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