A bereaved sister has shared the heartbreaking moment her sister received an honor walk through the hospital following her sudden cardiac arrest.
Mom-of-three Jasmine Barbuto went into cardiac arrest on April 9 and was eventually discovered on the kitchen floor by her young children. They called 911 and emergency services revived Barbuto, 41, twice before transferring her to the hospital. Unfortunately, it’s thought that she was without oxygen for around 30 to 40 minutes while unconscious, and she was left with no brain function.
Barbuto’s younger sister, Jade Chipps, 35, told Newsweek that it all happened “out of the blue” and the family was left in a state of shock. Medical professionals are still trying to work out the exact cause.
“Jasmine was a very loving and nurturing person. She took pride in being a mother to her three children, being a wife to her husband, who is a sheriff, and she loved her job as a nurse,” Chipps, of Naples, Florida, said.
For the six days she was in the hospital, Barbuto had many tests, and the staff tried to make her comfortable however they could. As she was an organ donor, it was decided that her organs should be harvested to help transplant patients.
Before that surgery, Barbuto received an emotional “honor walk” through the hospital on April 15. As her bed was wheeled through the corridors, around 250 people stood by in silence to pay their respects to the mom-of-three who would go on and save more lives.
“I felt so sad during that moment, but proud that she would still help others even in passing. Hundreds of people showed up, most of them being her friends, family, nurses she worked with, and her husband’s coworkers from the sheriff’s department,” Chipps said.
Chipps shared footage of the honor walk on TikTok (@jadalous), and there wasn’t a dry eye left on the internet. In just a matter of days, the video has gone viral with over 3.8 million views and 423,800 likes on TikTok at the time of writing.
While the family is happy to know that a part of Barbuto will be “living through others,” that certainly hasn’t made the grief any easier. Chipps explained that the family has taken it hard, and they can’t help but ask why this happened to Barbuto.
“She was the best mother and loved her children more than anything. It still doesn’t really even feel real. She was so young,” Chipps told Newsweek.
The family has started a GoFundMe for Barbuto’s widowed husband and her three children as they face this challenging next phase of their lives. Chipps explained that they don’t want her husband to have to “stress about bills while being a widow.”
After sharing her family’s loss on social media, Chipps has been amazed by the online response. She’s grateful to the thousands of commenters and well-wishers who offered their condolences.
Chipps said: “A lot of people have been commenting to say that Jasmine was their nurse, and she was so gentle and caring. Others that we don’t know, and a lot of nurses said the video touched them and made them emotional.”
This has led to more than 3,200 comments on the TikTok post so far.
One comment reads: “Rest easy Nurse Barbuto, the final call light was answered.”
Another TikTok user wrote: “Her honor walk was full of people, she was so loved.”
“Saving lives in life and in death. Rest easy,” a commenter wrote.
“What a beautiful soul. She made sure to save more on her way out. I’m so sorry for your loss,” said another commenter.
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