The Amazing Story of Baby Jackson, the Boy Who Lived
27-year-old Brittany and 30-year-old Brandon from Tavares, Florida, cannot be called happy parents, because their son Jackson was born without a part of the brain and skull. Even on an ultrasound scan, when the baby was in the womb, the doctors found an intrauterine malformation in the child and suggested that the parents terminate the pregnancy. One in 4,859 babies in the US is born with this anomaly each year, and these babies usually die shortly after birth. But in spite of everything, the child was not only born into the world, but was also able to celebrate his first birthday.
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1. On social media, Jackson was given the nickname Strong because he defied death itself and just recently celebrated his first birthday. The baby was born with a partial absence of the cerebral hemispheres, bones, cranial vault and soft tissues and had an insignificant chance of survival.
2. His story inspired many families throughout the United States, who are now closely following the fate and condition of the boy.
3. Even in the womb, Jackson was diagnosed with "anencephaly" - a congenital malformation that occurs as a result of a violation of the formation of the neural tube, due to which the child is born without part of the brain and skull.
4. Although the baby survived, doctors, unfortunately, cannot give positive predictions for the future.
5. The boy's father Brandon said: “After our second ultrasound, which was done at 17 weeks, we found out we were having a boy. The next day, doctors informed Brittany that they were concerned about the MRI result. She was in tears and told me that something was wrong with the baby.”
6. Over the next few weeks, the anxious couple went from doctor to doctor, and they suggested that the baby may have one of several possible pathologies, including Dandy-Walker syndrome, Joubert syndrome, and spina bifida.
7. The doctors gave them the opportunity to terminate the pregnancy at the 23rd week, but the young couple was against abortion and refused. The child miraculously survived the pregnancy and was born by caesarean section on August 27, 2014 weighing 1.8 kg.
8. The baby spent the first three weeks connected to several tubes at once in the neonatal intensive care unit, while neurosurgeons tried to understand his condition.
9. After several visits to the doctor and frightening seizures occurring within two months, Jackson was taken to the emergency room of Boston Children's Hospital, where the baby was finally given an accurate diagnosis - Microhydranencephaly. The parents had hope, because modern medicine can at least alleviate his condition. Yet Brittany and Brandon still wake up every day knowing that tomorrow Jackson might not be here.
10. Brandon's co-workers created a GoFundMe page when Jackson was born to help the family buy expensive drugs. Nearly $55,000 has been raised so far, and contributions are growing every day.