Seeing your child born healthy and sound is the happiest and luckiest thing for parents. However, for Sara Heller, besides the joy of seeing her son Brody, there are hundreds of thousands of worries about his life and his family’s life in the coming days.
At 24 weeks pregnant, Sara and her husband, Chris Eidam, were pained when they saw abnormalities on their son’s ultrasound image.
Brody has an extremely severe cleft lip and cleft palate. If in other cases there is only a small gap on the lips, with Brody, the gap extends from the lips to the nostrils. The doctor said that there are only about 9 cases like Brody worldwide.
“They asked us if we wanted to continue the pregnancy?”, Chris shared with Omaha News.
Without thinking at all, Sara and Chris were determined to keep Brody, even though they knew that the road ahead of them would be very difficult and arduous. Looking at the ultrasound image of their unborn child, Sara and Chris were determined to do something completely different. They wanted to change people’s perspective on children with cleft lip and cleft palate.
“No matter the circumstances, it is very normal for parents to be proud of their children. We want to put pictures of Brody on Facebook and Instagram. We want to share awareness about cleft lip and cleft palate with everyone.”
The last 2-3 months of pregnancy is when the fetus gradually perfects its face. In the US each year, about 2,650 cases of children born with deformities in the lips and jaw are recorded. Experts are still trying to understand the causes of these defects. However, it is known that genetic factors play a part in about one in five affected children.
Children with cleft palates will have to undergo a series of surgeries and treatments to be able to eat and speak normally. Sara and Chris, although unable to pay for Brody’s expensive surgeries at that time, were determined to change the perception of those around them, hoping to make them expand their thinking about cleft lip and cleft palate deformities.
Like other proud mothers, Sara often shares photos of Brody online. However, after that, she suffered a lot of critical and disparaging comments about the boy’s condition.
“What’s wrong with your child’s face?”, one comment wrote.
Sara said she was not only shocked by everyone’s words, but she also never thought or was mentally prepared that she would have to protect Brody from cruel comments about his child’s unusual appearance.
“I thought I would spread knowledge and not create a confrontation because that is what I want Brody to do in the future,” she told Today. I want him to help everyone understand, to become someone who stands up to protect younger children, children who do not yet have their own voice.”
One day, Sara and her friends took baby Brody out to dinner. While the waiter brought the dish to Sara’s table, she noticed something like a tissue underneath the plate. Tears flowed extremely emotionally when Sara discovered that it was actually a check worth 1,000 USD with the message: “For your beautiful child!”.
That precious surprise gift helped Sara and Chris cover some of Brody’s treatment costs. The latest surgery has helped Brody have a healthy face. The boy recovered very well and plans to have more surgeries at 9 months and 12 months.
Just each person contributing a little kindness can make a huge difference, potentially changing someone’s life. Seeing Brody’s bright smile and adorable face, the result of the kindness from strangers and the hard sacrifices of his parents, everyone must feel warm during these days. the end of this cold year.
