JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Mckinzee Jackson was a bright and playful 1-year-old girl who had always been full of life, until a series of terrifying and unexplained medical emergencies turned her family’s world upside down.
On May 13, while playing in the living room with her siblings, Mckinzee suddenly collapsed, her family told News4JAX on Thursday.
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“She was laying down on the ground, just unresponsive she was limp. She didn’t have any more like life in her,” mother Victorian Coney said.
Her oldest sister ran for help, and her father immediately began CPR before rushing her to the hospital. Doctors confirmed Mckinzee had gone into cardiac arrest. Thanks to her father’s quick thinking, her life was saved.
“I would just say it’s more like a father instinct thing, you know, you see your child and they’re not normal, um, the first thing you do is you just spring into action. It’s really difficult for me at the moment. I can’t really forget how I saw her in the car, um, because I was, I mean, I was, it was just me and her at that moment, and I just had to give it all to God,” father Jacobee Jackson said.
That incident revealed an irregular heartbeat, prompting her transfer to Wolfson Children’s Hospital. After extensive testing, no clear cause was found. Mckinzee was placed on beta blockers and sent home with a 30-day heart monitor. Her family hoped the worst was behind them.
But on June 22, tragedy struck again.
As the family was leaving the Cheesecake Factory, Mckinzee suddenly stopped breathing. They rushed her to the nearest hospital — just in time. She had no pulse. Medical staff administered emergency CPR, and miraculously, Mckinzee began to respond once again.
She is now back at Wolfson Children’s Hospital, and doctors are still searching for answers. All test results remain inconclusive. Her condition remains a mystery, and she is being monitored around the clock.
Mckinzee’s parents are now facing a growing list of medical expenses, and their daughter’s care needs are urgent. Doctors are recommending the implantation of a heart monitor under her skin to track her condition 24/7, and the family is hoping to acquire a personal AED (Automated External Defibrillator), a device that could save Mckinzee’s life in case of another episode.
Due to her age and size, Mckinzee is not yet a candidate for an ICD (Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator), making the AED a critical piece of emergency equipment in the meantime.
The Ryland Foundation put in half for the purchase of her AED.
“But that doesn’t come in for another three or four business days, and they won’t release McKenzie until she has that right now, it’s just hit or miss situation, you know, because even the doctors don’t know what’s going on with her, and it’s hard,” Jackson said.
Her family is asking for donations to help cover hospital stays and treatment, ongoing testing and research, an AED device for at-home and on-the-go emergency care and living expenses during this period of crisis. So far, the family has raised over $3,000.
They are also asking the public — especially families who have experienced something similar — to reach out and share any information or stories that might help them better understand what Mckinzee is facing.
