Most women in their 40th week of pregnancy are beyond ready to deliver — but Black Mountain’s Courtney Mosser was terrified to: Her baby was breech, and she had no idea how to get to her scheduled C-section after Hurricane Helene washed away her only road to the hospital.
Then Novant Health’s Dr. CJ Atkinson showed up with a helicopter to airlift her off the mountain and get her to the medical care she and her baby needed.
When we left off in our last Healthy Headlines story a year ago, Courtney had just welcomed baby Maya at Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center in Charlotte, with support from the team at Novant Health Providence OB/GYN.
Then Courtney, husband Justin, big brother Dylan, 3, and Maya moved into a donated home that a group of Charlotte moms — who didn’t know the family, but wanted to help — filled with clothing, baby items and a parade of dinner deliveries.
The family stayed in town for a month while Courtney recovered from her C-section and Maya began thriving under the care of Novant Health Elizabeth Pediatrics.
“It wasn’t the postpartum that I had originally imagined, but it was exactly what I needed,” Courtney said. “I got a ‘newborn bubble’ and home-cooked meals. We got to recover, but also prepare, even though we didn’t know at the time what we were preparing for.”
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Charlotte was great, but Black Mountain was home, so on October 30, the family tried to return. As they drove up their winding mountain road — which had been cleared of trees, but was now without guardrails and had become a one-way road at points — Courtney got a pit in her stomach. And as she walked into their house, her stomach lurched further: There was visible mold, a result of roof damage.
The family had rented here for four years and tried to work with their landlord to get the mold remediated. But ultimately, to keep Dylan and Maya safe, they ended up moving into a series of Airbnbs in Asheville. And there was another challenge: Most of their moldy furniture needed to go, too.
The couple grieved at first. “Then we decided it could be the opportunity for a purposeful lifestyle change,” Courtney said.
They had always talked about moving to Europe for a year, a possibility since Justin works remotely. And while taking their menagerie of pets to Europe was too much, there was a place they could take their pets and still practice their French: Quebec.
But before going anywhere, they had to sort through their belongings — easier said than done.
“Not only were we getting rid of things we hadn’t planned on getting rid of, but it was occurring during the end of November and beginning of December on a road that wasn’t safe to drive on,” Courtney said.
“There was no trash service, there were no donation companies willing to come up, and most moving companies weren’t willing to come up. So even though I was recovering from surgery, there was a lot I had to do with a baby strapped to me, and the rest Justin had to do on his own because of not being able to even find people to pay to help.”
Although their friends wanted to help, most were facing similar struggles, and “the drive up, paired with a sign to our neighborhood saying, ‘Danger: Enter at Own Risk’ made it hard for people who wanted to help but were still recovering themselves,” Courtney said.
After months of sorting, discarding, cleaning, and salvaging while also working and caring for their kids, the family had whittled down their belongings to fit in a 10 by 10 storage unit and their car.
Then they hit the road to live out their (new) dream: Four months in Quebec.
Freed from hurricane recovery tasks, Courtney enjoyed time with her kids again. Justin worked during the day, and adventured with the family late afternoons and evenings. Dylan learned some French, and Maya began to speak too: Mama.
All together, they spent time in three regions in Quebec — including the Laurentides mountains, which looked and felt like home in Western North Carolina, Courtney said.
Courtney’s message to the helpers
A year after Hurricane Helene, Courtney wants to thank those in Charlotte who supported her family with medical care, meals and donations. At the time, she said, she and Justin were grateful that so many perfect strangers were willing to help them, but also felt guilty since so many in Western North Carolina were still in need.
Today, it’s still hard to balance a discussion of their traumas with those of others. They’d had to throw out most of their belongings, including many treasured possessions. They’d been through the ordeal of being trapped on the mountain with a breech pregnancy and imminent birth. And the experience of growing their little family had thrown into complete chaos.
And yet, so many went through so much more. They think about this a lot. Courtney also wants everyone who helped to know: “It really mattered.” And that it fortified the family for their next steps and decisions.
She also wants you to hear that they don’t dwell on the misfortune, and that the losses were nothing compared to the insights they gained, and the love that came from friends and strangers alike. As they gained perspective, there was so much joy, as well. And even the struggles were a gift, “because they forced me to get rid of a lot of things, lighten the load, and go on this trip,” Courtney said. “I’ve been able to really focus on what’s important and get rid of the noise and excess.”
And although she’s now living a minimalist lifestyle, she’s kept a few shirts donated by Charlotte moms, since wearing them reminds her “of a time that I was completely supported.”
Now, the couple is considering what it would be like to regularly split time between Quebec and America. Without the hurricane, traveling like this “might have just been something we talked about forever;” now, the dream has legs.
But for now, the family is back in North Carolina, where they plan to spend the anniversary of Hurricane Helene with the doctor who got Courtney off the mountain.
