Father and sons pay it forward, help build new children’s hospital

Every day, Iowa ironworker Rob Nelson and his sons, Kyle, 20, and Jacob, 18, work together on the job site.

Their current project is one that hits close to home: the construction of the new University of Iowa Children's Hospital in Iowa City.

"I wouldn't have my family today if it wasn't for that hospital," Nelson says.

Nelson credits the children's hospital with saving both his son's lives.

"They saved my kids, and I take great pride in what I do here," Nelson explains. "I want to do whatever I can do to be a part of this team."

"I'm really just paying it forward," Kyle says. "They helped me, now I want to help them, too."

Kyle was born at the children's hospital in March of 1994. He was three months premature, weighing only 1 pound, 9 ounces.

Also see: Woman leaves hospital with surprise baby

"Twenty years ago, when he was born, they said babies born that early only had a 50 per cent chance of survival," Nelson recalls. "We didn’t know what to expect."

Kyle remained in the hospital's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) for the first three months of his life.

In 2009, Nelson's son Jacob, then 13, suffered a devastating brain injury in a dirt bike accident. He was in a coma for 18 days.

"No one thought he'd be up walking again," Nelson says. "They all thought he'd be in a nursing home in a vegetative state."

Remarkably, after a long hospital stay followed by physical therapy and rehabilitation, Jacob was able to return home — and now works alongside his father and brother in construction.

Also see: Family's 4 children all get married on same day

"It's good to be back here and helping out," Jacob says. "I don't remember anything from the accident, and very little from the hospital. But my parents told me I wasn’t expected to live, and they made it happen. This is the place to go when you’re hurting and need someone special to make it right."

The target completion date for the new hospital is March 2016.