“Dr. Sexton was my angel.”

Within three hours of giving birth to her new daughter Tinley, Taryn McCormick was praying for her newborn’s life. Tinley was rushed into surgery to repair what turned out to be seven different blockages found in her intestines during the last month of Taryn’s pregnancy. While Tinley made it through surgery successfully, the recovery process was slow.

Weeks passed, and Tinley was not progressing as hoped. The family, including Taryn, her husband Chris and son Collin, were never far from her side, hopeful that things would take a positive turn. In the same month, however, Taryn would receive another devastating blow. She was told her brother had been in an accident and did not survive.

That was when she met Dr. Tyler Sexton, who would not only help her daughter, but would also help Taryn through one of the most difficult periods of her life.

“He stepped into a very big situation,” said Taryn.

“I was a mess. I had just lost my brother and my daughter was not healing at the pace they expected. I didn’t know where to turn.”

They began to work together immediately, calling in the care team to discuss and plan a new course for Tinley which would include exploratory surgery.

After the second surgery revealed scar tissue from the previous surgery had caused another partial blockage, it was repaired immediately. From there, Tinley’s recovery resumed at a much faster pace.

“Dr. Sexton was my angel,” said Taryn. “When I met him, I told him that he needed to know that Tinley needed to be well and sent home in thirty days.”

Dr. Sexton could not promise her that Tinley would be home within her time frame, but Taryn knew he would do everything in his power to try, and that was all she could ask.

“He listened to me. He coordinated the GI doctor and the surgeon and put us all in a room. After the
second surgery, he came by every day–and in thirty days, we were home.”

That was three years ago. Today, Tinley is a healthy three-year-old who still sees Dr. Sexton.

“Dr. Sexton knows what patients need from their physicians. He understands challenges and knows how to face them head on. He genuinely cares and is so approachable to kids. I can’t say enough how important he is to my family.”

Dr. Tyler Sexton is now on the active medical staff of Singing River Health System serving as the Inpatient Pediatric Hospitalist at Singing River Hospital.