In 2010 when baby Hannah was born, she could not breathe, drink, eat or swallow on her own. It was because the baby girl was born without a wind pipe. Now, more than 2 years later, the little girl is the youngest patient in the world to have a new windpipe grown from her own stem cell.
Most parents see their children as little miracles, and that’s exactly the way it should be. But for the parents of four-year-old Ethan Stewart, the word “miracle” doesn’t even begin to explain how they feel about having him in their life today.
Early Easter morning, Mary Jones and her daughter were fast asleep. While they slept, a fire began to spread through their apartment building. Thankfully, a Lyons police officer noticed the fire before it got too out of control.
After her daughter went lifeless in her arms at a supermarket in Australia, a mother went searching for a hero. Thankfully, she found one. A total stranger standing at the check out counter saved that baby girl’s life, and it was all caught on tape.
It is the thing that a parent’s nightmares are made of; a four-year-old boy fell from his third-story apartment window. His mother, Jessica Hayes, was terrified when she realized her little boy had tumbled out of the window down to the ground. But this little guy either has super powers or an amazing guardian angel because, not only did he survive the fall with barely a scratch, he also landed on his feet.
This year, we were honored to share some of the most heartwarming stories of inspiration, amazing stories of survival and bravest heroes – both big and small. As 2012 comes to a close, we’d like to take a moment to reflect on some of those stories. We hope they warm your heart as much as they did ours.
When we are faced with adversity, our first instinct is to believe that our situation could be different, that our child is stronger and that we can beat the odds. In 2012 we found many families who did just this! Against every odd they were given, they made it through.
Madeleine Johnson-Marsh is just your typical 7-year-old girl, but this blond-haired Oteha Valley School girl was one big hero earlier this week. She saved a toddler from drowning in the ocean when the tot’s own mother was too afraid to enter the ocean.
Eric Mendez, a UPS delivery driver, may have simply been in the right place at the right time when he happened upon a drowning baby Wednesday evening. It was his quick reaction to the situation, however, that made him a hero that day.
When Albert Tansey’s heart started to fail, doctors looked outside the box to save the little boy’s life with a procedure that had only ever been performed on adults.
Little Evie Small was born with a rare condition known as Goldenhar syndrome; she has no hearing, facial or balance nerves. Because of this condition, she’s never heard the sound of her parents’ voices. She’s never actually heard the words, “I love you.” But all of that may be changing soon.
When you have multiple children, getting distracted is pretty much a given. But sometimes, that distraction can prove to be a potentially fatal situation. Such was the case when an infant’s stroller blew onto the subway tracks in Brooklyn.
Trudy Hilary walked in on every mother’s worst nightmare: her two-year-old son, Zach, collapsed, lying on the floor and groaning. He’d had a heart attack.
