HOUSTON-When Tropical Storm Allison hit Houston, it was the last blow Zachary Jackson needed in his fight to survive.
Zachary was a baby at the time.
Born three months prematurely, he was in the neo-natal intensive care unit at Children's Memorial Hermann in the Med Center when the whole place flooded and the hospital lost power.
Every machine that was keeping him alive quit working.
"I asked the nurse, 'How is he?' And she says, 'He's a little cold,'" Zachary's mother, Yamile Jackson, recalled.
Panicked, she said she rushed to the NICU and held Zachary in her arms to keep him warm.
It saved his life.
Those tense days have inspired her career.
Zachary is 8 years old now, and his mother has launched a company in his name.
11 News showed you her first product, the Zaky, last year.
It's a type of hand-shaped pillow Jackson first made to leave with her son at the NICU.
Research shows it feels to babies like their parents' arms. It's won Jackson, an engineer with a PhD, 11 awards and counting.
The Zaky has become so popular, you can find it at over 300 hospitals and child-care facilities worldwide.
Locally, it's standard equipment at the NICUs at both Texas Women's Hospital and Memorial Hermann.
And now Jackson, a Sugar Land resident, has a new product: the Zak Sak.
Inspired by the days she cradled Zachary in her arms, it allows parents to cradle hands-free.
Jackson says she isn't done yet. She's also designed a clothing line just for preemies, and next month she heads to Washington, D.C. to accept yet another award for her creations.
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