Melody Rain Palombi-Malmgren was a happy toddler with an infectious smile and laugh. She loved to dance, cuddle, and sit in her swing.
In July, the little girl celebrated her first birthday, but no one could have imagined it’d also be her last.
“Everything about her was just pure joy,” says Melody’s mother, Katherine Palombi. “I’m in complete shock. This is a child that was perfectly healthy.”
Palombi says she brought Melody to her pediatrician’s office, the Herbert Kania Pediatric Group in Warwick, on Oct. 17 for her 15-month well-visit where she received three vaccines. Two days later, without showing any signs that anything was wrong, Palombi says her daughter stopped breathing and went into cardiac arrest.
“It was the most horrible day of my life. I got to work. She waved goodbye to me that morning and then my mother called saying she was having trouble breathing. I just kept saying, she just had vaccines, she just had vaccines,” says Palombi.
Melody was brought to St. Anthony’s Hospital by ambulance. She says the child’s grandmother, who was caring for her that day, was instructed by 911 to perform CPR until paramedics could arrive. She says emergency medical personnel and hospital staff attempted lifesaving measures for several hours to no avail.
“They brought me in the room, and I saw her laying there,” recalls Palombi. “They said time of death 11:13. I just completely hit the floor. I completely passed out.”
Hospital records obtained by News 12 show the baby suffered liver and kidney failure, as well as cardiac arrest.
Hellbound and Down 