His parents can’t help but think there’s a reason why David is surviving against the odds. “To fight through all this, he’s destined for huge things. Maybe he’ll make a difference in people’s lives,” says Tracy.
He’s already made an impact. Nowadays his mom takes time to smell fresh laundry, or cut a few lilacs from the garden. “David has taught me a greater appreciation for life,” she says. “When you see a baby who struggles, that teaches you so much.”
Tracy and Brent don’t yet know if their youngest son will be home for Christmas. But either way, they’ll count their blessings at this time of year. After all, they’ve already had their miracle.
“Christmas means we’ve had a year of David with us, when we didn’t think we were going to have any time,” Tracy says. For this family, every breath is precious.
“I think we’re all going to be a little more appreciative of the true meaning of Christmas.”
Danny Gallant
When Danny Gallant was delivered by emergency caesarean section 12 years ago at the IWK Health Centre in Halifax, the tiny infant was in grave distress. He wasn’t breathing, his heart rate was unstable, and he had suffered brain damage. Doctors made a dire prediction: They told his mother, Jennifer, that Danny would never leave the hospital alive.
Happily, they were wrong. Two months after his birth, on Jennifer’s 21st birthday, this young single mom was able to bring her beautiful baby home to Dartmouth, N.S. But still his doctors led her to believe he wouldn’t live long. “Every day I’d open my eyes in a panic, and jump up and run to see if he was still there,” Jennifer recalls.
It wasn’t until Danny was two years old that he was finally diagnosed with cerebral palsy, a condition often caused by brain damage around the time of birth. He would never be able to walk or talk, and he had a cognitive disability, the extent of which no one at that point could predict – but he wasn’t dying.
Overwhelmingly relieved, his mom set about providing her only child with the best possible quality of life. She had grown up with a close second cousin who used a wheelchair, so she was quite comfortable with disabilities. “It never occurred to me that his disability was a bad thing,” she says. “Life goes on.”
Over the following few years, Danny was treated for such complications as seizures and respiratory problems. But, although he still needs a gastric feeding tube for eating, these days he’s healthy and full of life. Danny makes sounds and uses body language to communicate – he’s fully aware, but has the cognitive abilities of a much younger child.
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