When Shelly Wall got pregnant, she was excited about the child’s birth, only to be dismayed by news from the doctors that the child had extreme hydrocephalus and that it would not likely survive. Shelly was even advised to terminate the pregnancy.
She was told that the child would have very little chances of survival and if it did manage to survive, it will have a very low quality of life. She and the child could suffer if she doesn’t terminate the pregnancy – that was the doctors’ advice.
But Shelly could not bear the thought of terminating the pregnancy and not meeting her precious child. So, despite the doctors’ advice, she went on with the pregnancy.
Photo credit: Shareably
Noah Wall was born with a huge head and a frail body. His head was so swollen and filled with fluids that he almost had not brain. Based on scans, he only had 2% of his brain working – and that definitely means he is doomed for sure, right?
Well, the scans and all medical data say so but Noah would show the doctors that miracles can happen. Slowly, the boy grew up and learned things like walking, talking, and other stuff that you wouldn’t expect from a child with virtually ‘no brain’ at all!
Surprised by Noah’s development even if was much delayed compared with kids his age, more scans were done with the now 4-year-old boy – and the doctors were shocked to find that he now has a brain! Somehow, the boy grew a brain which is now roughly about the same size as the brains of kids his age.
Indeed, Noah is a walking, talking miracle! While he continues to struggle with spina bifida and other birth defects, Mommy Shelly was thankful that she kept him.
What is Hydrocephalus?
Hydrocephalus is a congenital condition wherein a baby’s brain is filled with cerebrospinal fluid. The condition is often called as “water head” because of the “water in the brain”. Depending on the extent of the condition as well as other factors, hydrocephalus could be treated and the child expected to survive; although often with some other congenital defects.