Bliss in the middle of national tragedy - born on Sept. 11, 2001

Kayla Beaver is known in Jackson for her abilities in softball after a prolific playing career at South Side High School, Central Arkansas University and the University of Alabama.

But one lesser-known fact about her is that she was born a few hours after the attacks in New York and Washington and the plane crash in Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, 2001.

While the world watched as the first World Trade Center tower burned after the initial plane crash that morning, the second plane crash in real time and the eventual collapse of both buildings, Kayla’s mother and father, Jessica and Shane, watched while Jessica was in labor.

“Kayla was actually born about five-and-a-half weeks early because I was diagnosed with preeclampsia the day before on that Monday during a checkup,” Jessica said. “I was admitted into the hospital here in Jackson, and they were going to induce labor once they saw that Kayla was OK to go ahead and be born.”

Jessica was admitted into the hospital on Monday afternoon after the first checkup Shane didn’t accompany her on because of work obligations. She stayed overnight, and the crew in the hospital began early to work to bring Kayla into the world.

“They broke my water about 6:30 on that morning to try to rush things along, and from there, we were heading toward giving birth,” Jessica said.

Shane is from Maryland, in the southern part of the state near Washington D.C., and they’d gotten tickets on Monday to fly to Tennessee on Tuesday with plans of being present for the birth.

Jessica was in the delivery room experiencing contractions but was still early in the birthing process when they’d heard a little more than an hour in that something big was happening in New York.

“I turned on the TV in our room, and the first plane had already hit and reporters were on the ground talking about it,” Shane said. “And I remember thinking, ‘How do you hit a tower like that?’”

The Beavers were watching the coverage live when the second plane hit.

“I guess I was like just about everyone that day and assumed this had to be intentional when the second plane hit,” Shane said. “Then it wasn’t long after then that we heard another plane hit the Pentagon. We all knew things were serious then.”

Back in 2001, it was normal for someone to be in the delivery room with a video camera with VHS tapes, and this delivery was no different.

“When we watch the delivery video, you can see in the background the coverage on the news and we’re talking about it and wondering what’s going on,” Jessica said.

Over the course of the next couple hours as contraction frequency gradually increased, news coverage confirmed a fourth plane crashed in Pennsylvania. For a time, the location of then-President George W. Bush was unknown as they’d gone into Secret Service protocol for his safety before he addressed the nation later in the day.

All planes in the United States were grounded as well, which was the first thing to affect their family.

“Shane’s parents were trying to fly in, and planes were grounded before they took off,” Jessica said. “And they couldn’t get to Jackson by driving until I think Friday or Saturday because they lived close enough to Washington that the traffic restrictions there affected them.”

Shane’s family would find out later once investigations were complete and findings were released that the hotel some of the terrorists stayed at while finishing up their training to learn how to fly was within 10 minutes of their home between Washington and Baltimore.

Kayla made her arrival that afternoon at 12:06 p.m., not knowing the world she was born into literally changed earlier that morning.

Both Shane and Jessica said they took some time to reflect on everything that had happened personally and internationally that day.

“That was the first time I’d really thought about Shane’s job as a first responder,” Jessica said. “We lost so many first responders that day, and it was a very stark reminder of the fragility of life, particularly with someone who has a job like Shane’s.

“How many men and women like him in New York made the same commitment that morning that he does every day and lost their lives because of that commitment? And now if God forbid something like that were to happen, it’s not just me dealing with the aftermath of that and moving on without him. It’s her and me, and that was a realization I was not expecting.”

For Kayla, she said she figured out pretty young that the day she was born was a day that had an international impact still being felt 23 years later.

“Going to school, we’d always have special ceremonies to recognize the day, and they’d say, ‘On Sept. 11, 2001, …’ and discuss everything that happened,” Kayla said. “And my parents never hid it from me or anything like that, so by kindergarten or first grade I figured it out.”

She said growing up she gradually dealt with the fact that the day she was born – a day that brought happiness to her family – was among the worst days in history for many who were alive that day.

“It made me want to learn as much as I could about everything that happened that day,” Kayla said. “That’s why during Christmas break in 2017 I wanted to go to the 9-11 museum in New York, and we went the day after Christmas.”

Kayla wanted to see the museum so badly that despite not dressing properly for a New York winter day, she was willing to stand in frigid temperatures for three hours to wait.

And when they got in, they were all glad they did.

“Of course, the museum is at Ground Zero, and some of the I-beams and stairs from the stairwell that didn’t fall in the collapse are still there,” Shane said. “And they built the museum essentially around those things to preserve them.”

There’s not a lot of talking in the museum, and the talking that does happen is quiet and somber.

“I’ve never experienced anything like it,” Jessica said. “But you understand it when you get in there and see everything that’s there.

“But for me, that just reminded me of the awkward position Shane and I are in in a way regarding that day. That was possibly the worst day in our nation’s history. So many people died. Our economy was affected. We went to war in response to it. But for our family, it was the best day of our lives. We’re grateful for that day, but we’re aware of the hurt and fear so many felt because we felt that hurt and fear too along with our happiness to have a healthy daughter. So now, looking back, we’re just grateful. We’re grateful for Kayla. Grateful for our country. We just pray we don’t have to go through anything like that as a nation again.”

Brandon Shields, brandon@jacksonpost.news