Jayden Kyles could have encountered numerous barriers before graduating high school in a few weeks, but his mother fought for him even before he was born.

Now the 6-foot 18-year-old has come full circle, spending part of his senior year as an aspiring health care professional in the same Germantown hospital that cared for him in his first months of life.

As his mother, Kamiya Traylor, was preparing for her son’s arrival, an abnormality was found on his arm. At first, it looked like a cyst, but tests later showed an amniotic band syndrome. The disease occurs when fibrous bands from the amniotic sac are entangled around a fetus. It can lead to limb deformities, and it’s the same disease that causes cleft palate. For Kyles, his arm was wrapped like a tourniquet.

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A doctor in Memphis told Traylor her son would be born without a right hand. However, her motherly instincts wanted to help her growing child. By research, she found Cincinnati Children’s Hospital could perform an in utero surgery to save her son’s hand. She was the fifth patient at that hospital to undergo the procedure, but she said she was hopeful and willing to do anything to help her child. She had the surgery 29 weeks into her pregnancy. Five weeks later, Jayden was born.

She was discharged without him as he remained in the NICU atMethodist Le Bonheur Germantown. She visited him daily.

“It was a whirlwind,” she recalled. “Hardly no sleep, no food. All the weight I’d gained when I was pregnant, I lost it. It was tunnel vision — focused on my baby and getting him out of the NICU to be healthy and at home with family.

“It was a lot.”

Other than a few scars above his wrist, Jayden has functioned normally in daily activities. He loves being with his family and is involved in his church. Kyles is preparing to graduate from Houston High, and throughout the past year, he returned to the NICU as part of a clinical internship, getting hands-on experience in various hospital departments, including the NICU.

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In middle school, Kyles became interested in possibly pursuing health care. This fall, he will attend Middle Tennessee State, where he plans to study physiology and biology. He said he wants to pursue medical school and become a pediatrician. 

His infant days in the NICU were a factor in his “close connection,” he said.

During his internship, he watched families smile when they saw a baby improve. That solidified his growing desire.

“I want to help people to see them doing (well), but also to help the community and what can I give back to them,” Kyles said.

The professionals who have mentored him say he has what it takes. The NICU nurses were moved by his story and saw his potential during his internship. He had a special touch with infants.

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Carolyn Carter has been with the hospital for 30 years. She said she isn’t sure if she cared for Kyles as an infant, but she remembers him being at the hospital then because she has worked with only a handful of amniotic band babies in her career. She was one nurse who created a unique bond with him during the past year.

“He’d walk around and (ask), ‘Are there any babies I can hold? Is there anything I can do?’” Carter said. “If a baby was fussing, he would go in and ask, ‘Is it OK if I give them the pacifier?’ and rock them. He wasn’t scared of babies, which was impressive for a boy that age.”

He watched intently wanting to learn what he could. With his personality and passion for learning, Carter knows he can accomplish his dreams.

“I think with his past history, it’s even more exciting since he survived something rare,” she said.

Although his internship concluded, he returned last week, and nurses were elated to see him, smiling and rushing to hug him. Kyles said they impressed him but also gave him a head start in his health care journey.

“When I got in the NICU, it wasn’t everything like ‘Grey’sAnatomy,’” he said of a comparison between his internship and the television show. “From the outside looking in, you don’t understand all the logistics and all the hard work and long hours — just seeing how the doctors and nurses were devoted to their job.”