A miracle baby born without part of his brain has survived against all odds to celebrate his first birthday.
Danielle Frater, 28, from Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, said she was offered an abortion at 20 weeks because her son did not have a cerebellum, the part of the brain that controls breathing.
The fetus also had severe hydrocephalus – a build-up of fluid in the brain – and the mother was told that if she went ahead with the delivery, she would not live long.
Devastated Danielle planned baby Koen Curtis’ funeral while she was pregnant but decided to leave it to nature. She was then born at 36 weeks.
He had to undergo surgery to place a shunt in his brain, but miraculously survived.
And now the one-year-old is home from the hospital and can smile and play, skills doctors thought he would never learn, Danielle said.
Danielle Frater, 28, from Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, gave birth to a miracle baby who was born without part of his brain.
The proud stay-at-home mother of five said: ‘She’s doing great; Her hand coordination is brilliant.
‘They didn’t think he would be able to do any of this. We were told he would be severely disabled. The neurologist said his progress is amazing. His reflexes are not a problem.
‘We don’t know if he will be able to walk. I think she will eventually. Developmentally, she is at the stage of a six-month-old child.
‘He’s still here. He’s a little fighter. Everyone says “he’s a miracle.”
“I would like to raise awareness among other parents who might be going through the same situation so that they do not give up on their babies, since my son is proof.”
Danielle first realized things weren’t going to be easy when she was 20 weeks pregnant in November 2022 and scans revealed she had no cerebellum.
“There was no hope for him, I was told that if he makes it through childbirth, he will have a short life and will be severely disabled.”
‘I collapsed. I sat on the bus home crying. He was going to plan her funeral while she was pregnant. I just wanted him in her place. She wouldn’t have been in the right frame of mind to plan it.
Every time she went to the hospital for a scan, the doctors asked her if she wanted to have an abortion, but she defiantly said no.
The mother said she was offered an abortion at 20 weeks because her son did not have a cerebellum, the part of the brain that controls breathing.
Devastated Danielle planned baby Koen Curtis’ funeral while she was pregnant but decided to leave it to “nature” and he was born at 36 weeks.
“I don’t agree with abortions,” he said. “If she had aborted him, it would have been like murdering him.”
On March 9, 2023, she gave birth to 7-pound Koen via cesarean section. To the doctors’ surprise, Koen came out breathing but then went “downhill.”
Doctors told Danielle that Koen needed high-risk surgery to drain fluid from his brain and place a ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt.
It would drain the excess fluid into your stomach, where it could be absorbed. They told him to prepare for the worst: calling her family at the hospital to say goodbye one last time.
‘I just collapsed, I couldn’t think of anything. I thought we were going to lose him. I didn’t think there was any hope at all. I didn’t think I would survive the night.
He had to undergo surgery to place a shunt in his brain, but miraculously survived. And now the one-year-old is back from the hospital and can smile and play, skills doctors thought he would never learn.
The neurologist who has followed his recovery said he is a “miracle baby,” the mother said. Two months after being discharged, Koen began to smile
‘We assume the risk and we operate. They told us he wouldn’t survive. Babies who have what he has usually don’t survive.
But somehow Koen did it and after another stomach operation he was discharged home after a total of seven weeks in care.
Danielle, also a mother of nine, seven, four and two-year-olds, said: “I had to tell them he was a very sick baby.”
Danielle’s partner, Delroy Palmer-Walker, a 34-year-old chef, has taken time off work to help with Koen as he requires 24-hour care.
But the neurologist who has followed his recovery said he is a “miracle baby,” the mother said. Two months after being discharged, Koen began to smile.
Danielle said she expects more disabilities to emerge as Koen gets older, adding, “They don’t know how long he’ll live.” “We are taking each day as it comes.”