Nick Newkirk, an engineer at Florida Power & Light (FPL), recently reflected on his family’s experience with premature birth during National Prematurity Awareness Month. Fourteen years ago, Nick’s wife Rachel experienced a sudden medical emergency unrelated to her pregnancy while at work in Pensacola, Florida. The event led to the premature birth of their daughter, Addy Beth, at just 26 weeks and four days.
Addy Beth was born without a heartbeat and required two rounds of CPR before being revived. She spent 74 days in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola. Today, both Rachel and Addy Beth are healthy; Rachel continues her career as a salon professional, while Addy Beth is a high school freshman involved in photography, cheerleading, and tennis.
Nick credits the NICU staff for saving his daughter’s life. “Without the people who were there in the NICU to take care of Addy Beth, there’s no chance she would have survived,” Nick explains. “The right people and technology were in the right place at the right time. Otherwise, I would have lost them both.”
Inspired by their experience, Nick and Rachel helped create “Preemies of Pensacola,” a private social media group that supports families with babies in the NICU at what is now Ascension Sacred Heart Studer Family Children’s Hospital. They also contributed to organizing the hospital’s annual NICU reunion event and continue supporting initiatives such as Sacred Heart’s Radiothon fundraiser for advanced neonatal equipment.
Nick says his time supporting his family through long nights at the hospital motivated him to pursue further education while working full-time. He earned an electrical engineering degree from the University of West Florida before joining FPL as a power delivery distribution engineer—a role he feels aligns with his values of community service.
“That experience in the NICU showed me what’s possible when the right people, technology and dedication come together,” Nick said. “It inspired me to pursue a career where I could be part of something bigger.”
