“Please, don’t Let me die” - Baby Doe

Last Night, Friday night, I am home after a week of traveling.  On TV is the Boise State vs Fresno football game.  My three boys are sleeping and my wife decides she better turn in as we both know at anytime Shane or Wyatt (or both) will wake up again.  A friend sends me a message as she is traveling with her family and is having a problem at the hotel where they are staying.  I am the worldly traveler after all. I feel good, relaxed and nearly ready for bed myself.  I am having a pretty good evening. 

Then something happened on my way to bed.  I turned on the computer and read a post about twins that were born.  Born at 37 weeks, one baby was apparently healthy and had just gone home with his new parents.  The other, born with Down syndrome has serious medical complications and is fighting for his/her life. This baby is not going home and has no home. This child was left behind, not wanted and with a Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order. Guess what?  Going to bed would be delayed as I spent the next hour or so trying to find out more about this baby.  I, along with others, began posting this story on line, on web sites of Down Syndrome Associations and The Children’s Hospital.  This poor baby needed help and it was life or death.  The hope was to get this information posted ASAP in hopes of finding a family that may be able to help and advocate for this baby.  Before I finally fell asleep, I received a reply from a family that might be able to help.  By morning, The Down Syndrome Community was responding in force.  The word was getting out and many were talking about this situation and spreading the news in hopes of saving this baby.  I also know other families have expressed an interest in advocating and even adopting this child.  This story will not end today as this process can take time and can’t be resolved with one phone call.  As I write this today, we all need to continue to pray that this child continues to receive the medical treatments necessary for life.  We need to pray that a family may become involved in the medical decisions that will be required and adoption happens quickly.

Personally, I know how devastating it can be to have a child that is sick, in need of medical care and advance treatments that deal with life threatening conditions.  I have two boys that are still going through some of this.  I get it.  I know the shock associated with this and my wife and I cried long and hard after Shane and Wyatt were born.  We needed to process what happened and the impact this would have on our lives.  Our story has been told so I won’t retell it, but this is what I do know.  Life isn’t fair and sometimes life throws you a curve ball when you are expecting a fast ball.  I also know that people deal with issues differently but death for a baby doesn’t have to be a first and only option.  I also know the fight for life that both my boys had in them from even before they were born.  They wanted to live!!  I do realize that babies sometimes die or difficult decisions at times need to be made concerning life or death but to simply allow a baby to die as the first and only option is just very sad to me.  This child, like Shane and Wyatt and so many others deserve a chance at life.  Maybe, just maybe if we asked this baby what should be done the response might be “Please, don’t let me die”.