By Savannah Koplon
For many families in central Alabama, traveling to the hospital to deliver a baby can be a relatively local visit. For Tech. Sgt. Tony Knizel, getting to meet his newborn son, Micah, for the first time involved a 7,600-mile trek home.
A member of the 908th Security Forces Squadron at Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, Knizel was stationed in Kuwait when second son Michael “Micah” Knizel was born Dec. 22, 2017, at 37 weeks’ gestation. Already stationed in Kuwait for six months, Knizel knew he would miss the birth of his son and was able to watch the delivery live thanks to video capabilities on Facebook Messenger.
After a week and a half at home with their older son, Gabriel, 2, mom Brittany noticed Micah’s breathing appeared irregular. After video chatting with Knizel and seeking the help of his sister, a nurse practitioner, they rushed Micah back to the hospital. He was admitted to UAB’s Regional Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (RNICU), where he was diagnosed with respiratory syncytial virus and placed on a CPAP machine.“When I left Kuwait, his vital signs were not great, and his stats were low,” Knizel said. “Knowing that the situation was out of my control was very trying. I had limited, if any, access to Wi-Fi and was fairly unsure about Micah’s condition until I landed in America. That was a tremendously stressful trip home.”
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