Five and a half months after doctors in Georgia delivered a premature baby to a brain-dead mother, the child’s grandmother is optimistic about his chances of surviving.
April Newkirk shared on GoFundMe that her grandchild, Chance, has improved to 11 pounds after being born at one pound and 13 ounces. The child, who has spent his entire life in the NICU, will have to be moved to a different hospital for “more specialized care.”
“I want everyone to know that im very grateful for you prays[sic] and help continue to pray because God has the final say so,” Newkirk wrote.
Chance’s mother, Adriana Smith, was a 31-year-old nurse who, in February, went to the doctor complaining of severe headaches. She eventually was placed on life support as those headaches were actually blood clots in her brain. Due to Georgia’s “heartbeat law” enacted in 2019, Smith was kept alive despite being declared brain-dead, as, since she was pregnant, she had to carry the baby until the baby was considered viable to live. There are exceptions to the law in cases of rape, incest or when the mother’s life is in danger, criteria that lawmakers argued Smith did not meet.
Doctors performed an emergency C-section on Smith on June 13, delivering Baby Chance. Smith was taken off life support days later.
Since Smith’s death, her family has attempted to pick up the pieces and Newkirk has kept people updated on Baby Chance’s health via GoFundMe. In August, Newkirk reflected on the pain of losing her daughter and the “new normal” of assisting Smith’s oldest son, Chase, who thought his mother was “sleeping.”
“My heart is broken,” she wrote. “im just trying to understand everything that has happened i feel so very hurt inside im angry and im sad i feel so bad for the kids trying to get things normal for chase new school new home new everything and no mom they were very close. I don’t know how he feels about everything but he is talking to someone weekly . Chance is 4 pounds today im grateful to the nicu unit great nurses and doctors.”
Newkirk’s GoFundMe has raised over half a million dollars and is close to its $600K goal, but Baby Chance’s journey is just beginning.
