Woman returns home after having 2 simultaneous surgeries

MONROE, N.C. — The Charlotte mother who had open-heart surgery and a Cesarean section simultaneously is going home after five months of recovery in the hospital.

Danielle Gaither was scheduled to have a C-section in Monroe, but a rare connective-tissue disorder led to a ruptured artery.

"I was having chest pains, contractions," she said.

She was airlifted to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, where doctors needed to perform the complicated surgeries.

"I didn't have time to think really in detail," Jeko Madjarov. with the Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute. said. “I just knew that we have to involve everybody."

More than 15 nurses and doctors went into action and saved both Gaither and her baby boy.

"I was close to death, but I thank God, I thank God that I'm here for my kids," she said.

Now, she can return home to her four children.

"I'm glad to be alive," she said.

Gaither’s doctor is thrilled with her progress, but hesitates to take too much credit.

"I was just doing my job," Madjarov said.

"It's a blessing that I get to go home to my family and get to see my babies,” Gaither said. “I mean, I've been here five months. It's time for me to go home."

The first thing she wants to do is take her family out to dinner to celebrate.

"Don't take life for granted," she said.

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