CHOP doctor working with former NICU patient 25 years later

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Children's Hospital of Philadelphia has been the scene of a reunion that actually began two years ago, it's just that the two people involved didn't realize it until very recently.

Born six weeks premature with a double hernia, Carly Jeffris arrived at CHOP for immediate surgery.

It was 1996. Her mother and father were first-time parents and it was the family's first time meeting CHOP's Surgeon-in-Chief Dr. Scott Adzick.

"My mom remembers the interaction with him," said Jeffris. "He told them, 'I don't want you to worry at all, she's in great hands.'"

It wasn't until a recent, casual conversation with her mother that Jeffris realized she was working with the very doctor who performed that life-changing surgery.

"To think that she was cared for here at CHOP many years ago and that she's back helping babies with surgical problems on my neonatal team is just like mind-boggling. Are you kidding me?' said Dr. Adzick.

After graduating nursing school in 2019, Jeffris became a clinical nurse at CHOP, working in their NICU alongside Dr. Adzick.