This is a photo of my nephew Liam. He was born 3 weeks premature due to my sister’s gestational hypertension. Upon his delivery his umbilical cord was around his neck. The doctor was able to swiftly remove it but he did have to be resuscitated. He spent the night doing skin to skin with my sister and having his glucose monitored. Unfortunately he did not want to eat much and his glucose remained low to normal throughout the night. At 8am upon the nurse shift change, he was found to be having focal seizures (almost imperceptible) with twitching of his legs. He was then transferred to the NICU. After a few hours when my sister went to visit he stopped breathing in her arms. He had several tests done and was eventually taken for radiographs. During the radiographs he had another episode of apnea occur and was intubated and spent the night under observation. The next day it was determined that he was continuing to have seizures despite medication and the monitors were not detecting them. He was airlifted to Children’s Hospital Colorado to be under care of a Pediatric Neurologist. During his stay at Children’s he had EEG monitoring, was fed through a tube and an MRI showed damage to the Corpus Callosum (the area that connects function between the left and right hemispheres of the brain) which can affect speech, motor and vision. We were told he may never walk, talk or see but it would remain unknown until he was older. He received excellent care and was able to go home after 2 weeks. He was one of the lucky ones. Some kids don’t stay for only two weeks.
With guidance and support from Children’s and Colorado programs like Early Interventions we are happy to share that despite the odds Liam is thriving. He walks, talks and can see. He does still suffer from very mild Cerebral Palsy but is enjoying his life as an active 5 year old who is already reading.
This race is to help families like my sisters. Those who need extra support going through something that no parent or family ever wants to go through, injury or illness with their child.