Local mom passes after infection allegedly goes unchecked

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Local mom Nissa Specken passed away last Monday, possibly due to an infection, leaving behind five children.

Tiffany Dillon, Specken’s friend since 2015, has agreed to take in the youngest boy, Darius, who is only four months old.

“She was a child of the system, and that was her biggest fear. I couldn’t let this little man get lost in the system,” said Dillon, a mother of four.

Two of Specken’s kids live independently, while the remaining two younger children are with her brother-in-law.

Dillion believes Specken’s death was due to an infection in her C-section incision after the birth of Darius, which led to sepsis.

Specken had been through three rounds of oral antibiotics before she went to the hospital because the infection wasn’t healing, said Dillion.

“They gave her another round of oral antibiotics, and she’s like, ‘well, the last ones weren’t working. What else can we do here?'” she said.

Dillon said she believed Specken had an abscess that burst, and “she went septic instantly.”

Dillon had seen Specken the morning of November 7th while dropping the kids off at school, and both moms agreed to meet later that day.

“I went to go [to her place] after school, and her house was filled with emergency vehicles,” Dillon said.

“The school called her brother-in-law because she wasn’t there to pick up the kids. And he went there and found her in the bathroom.”

She said her brother-in-law tried chest compressions until the ambulance arrived and pronounced her deceased.

Dillon called Specken a great mom.

“She had the biggest heart. She was so passionate about her kids,” Dillion explained.

“She was a hard worker… She was the type of person who gave you the shirt off her back if you needed something.”

Specken worked as a flagger up until she was eight months pregnant with Darius.

Specken’s boss at Energetic Traffic Control, Dini Smoler, set up a GiveSendGo fund to help with the kids’ expenses.

Donation items, such as baby clothes and formula, can be dropped off at the Energetic Traffic Control office at 10503 89 Avenue in Fort St. John.