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- Stunning Brain Images Reveal Beauty Of Fragile Brain
- How long did Trevor live without a brain?
- How long can a baby live without a brain?
- How old is the boy who was born without a brain?
- Is Jaxson still alive?
SHREVEPORT, LA (KSLA) - An ArkLaTex child born without a brain and defied all odds passed away peacefully in his sleep Monday.
Trevor Judge Waltrip was born on Christmas Eve 2001, with just a brain stem and
. It's a rare condition in which the brain's cerebral hemispheres are absent, replaced by sacs filled withcerebro-spinal fluid. The brain stem allowed Trevor to breathe, respond to some stimulus, and maintain a heartbeat. In 2003, his mother Elizabeth told KSLA News 12 that "He's so alert and hates to be alone. He'll sense that, too."
Still, Trevor was blind and unable to verbally communicate.
Doctors were unsure if Trevor would make it 12 weeks. At 17 months, his physician Larry Daniels said that he was very unique to have survived that long, considering babies born with this conditiongenerally don't live to birth."
There's no cure or treatment for hydranencephaly.
Trevor lived for 12 years, with the help of a feeding tube and therapists who stimulated his muscles and joints. His mother says she knows his story touched the hearts of many across the region. When we checked in with the Waltrip family again in 2005, his mother said he was doing well, gaining weight and had 15 teeth, "and he does bite, so he does know what he's doing."
Elizabeth Waltrip alsofound a support group for parents of babies like Trevor. "Just to know about other babies out there like this because I thought I was the only one. It's really ...I feel much better."
Knowing what the odds are against babies like Trevor, Elizabeth took things one day at a time. "I look at it like he's here for a reason," she said in 2005, "and I thank God everyday for it."
Now that he has passed away, his family is
asking for help to cover funeral costs. Donations can be madeto any Chase Bank under the "Trevor Judge Waltrip Donation Account."
Arrangements have been made, with funeral services being held on Saturday, August 30 at 2:30 p.m. at Rose-Neath's Southside Chapel, 2500 Southside Drive.
Visitation will be on Friday, August 29 from 5-7 p.m., also at Rose-Neath Southside Chapel.
Copyright 2014 KSLA. All rights reserved.
A boy born without a brain has defied all medical odds to survive until the age of 12 before dying peacefully. Trevor Judge Waltrip was born onChristmas Eve 2001 with a rare condition called hydranencephaly which meant his cerebral hemispheres were completely absent and replaced with cerebro-spinal fluid.
The boy was completely blind and unable to communicate but could breathe on his own and respond to some stimuli.
His mother said in 2003: "He's so alert and hates to be alone. He'll sense that, too."
He was looked after by his family and a team of therapists and fed through a tube.
In 2005 his mother added: "I look at it like he's here for a reason and I thank God everyday for it."
Those born with the condition -which has no known cure or treatment - usually only live to the age of 12 weeks, so to nearly make it to his teenage years is astonishing.
Trevor died last Monday.
Stunning Brain Images Reveal Beauty Of Fragile Brain
Jaxon Buell, the boy who was nicknamed “Jaxon Strong” for his determination to live after he was born with an extreme brain malformation, has died. He was 5.
The child passed away "very peacefully and comfortably" on April 1 in North Carolina, his parents said.
His story and striking photos — showing what his family described as "bright blue eyes, awesome hairand amazing smile" — made worldwide headlines, and TODAY featured the family’s account of what it was like to care for Jaxon in 2015 and 2016.
"He passed away in my arms and surrounded by his parents and family who were loving on him and providing comfort and endless hours of snuggles throughout his final days," Brandon Buell, 35, his father, told TODAY in an email.
"Ultimately, Jaxon passed away from his body and organs shutting down, as is common with children like him. This had absolutely nothing to do with theCOVID-19 virus, but was something we always knew from the beginning would likely happen. We just didn't know when."
Jaxon recently entered into hospice care at home after showing signs of slowing down in the past year or so, and the family was preparing to say goodbye, his dad added.
"Jaxon's legacy is about his strength and his amazing sweet spirit. He truly made me, his mom, his family, and all who learned of his storybetter," he said.
Jaxon was born on Aug. 27, 2014, in Orlando, Florida, with microhydranencephaly, a developmental abnormality that affects the brain. It left him with 80 percent of his brain missing, with the cerebellum — the region that controlsmovement, coordination and balance — most affected. Doctors believed his brain stopped forming a few weeks after he was conceived, Brandon Buell said.
There were no concerns about the pregnancy until the second ultrasound at week 17, when the ultrasound tech became quiet as she got to Jaxon’s head region, his father recalled. A flurry of tests and potential diagnoses followed.
Doctors weren’t sure he’d be born alive, but Jaxon let out a faint cry when has was delivered via C-sectionat 37 weeks. The baby boy was very undersized and his head was not fully developed, but he was beautiful, his father said.
Jaxon stayed in the neonatal intensive care unit for three and a half weeks. He had a strong heartbeat and was breathing well.
“Doctors told us, ‘There’s really nothing we can do for him. Take him home and make him comfortable,’” Brandon Buell said in 2015.
“It sounds crazy, but he didn’t need that much extra care.”
The family had to learn to how use a feeding tube, and deal with seizures and periods of extreme fussiness. Still, Jaxon was happy and comfortable — noton life support or struggling, his father said. The child’s vision was fuzzy, but his hearing was good and he liked to smile, he noted.
The family was told Jaxon would not make it to his first birthday, but he passed that milestone and beyond.
As the boy got older, he progressed in small but significant ways when it came to interacting with his toys and in therapy, his dad said. He originally did not have voluntary movements, but after turning 2, the family said it was overjoyed thatJaxon would pucker his lips to give kisses, and reach for his parents or his toys.
Still, his unique challenges meant no one knew what the next day would bring for him, his dad told TODAY in 2016.
“There’s a miracle behind Jaxon’s story. We want to let other families know that even when there’s a dark situation, every life should be celebrated, valued and cherished,” Brandon Buell said.
A. Pawlowski is a TODAY health reporter focusing on health news andfeatures. Previously, she was a writer, producer and editor at CNN.
How long did Trevor live without a brain?
Trevor Waltrip was born with just a brain stem and a rare condition called hydranencephaly. Doctors didn't think he would live 12 weeks, but he defied the odds and lived 12 years.
How long can a baby live without a brain?
The most common type of anencephaly, where the brain has entirely failed to form, except for the brain stem. Infants rarely survive more than one day after birth with holoanencephaly.
How old is the boy who was born without a brain?
Noah Wall from Cumbria has defied the odds and he celebrated his tenth birthday on Sunday after being born with just 2% of his brain function.
Is Jaxson still alive?
1 April 2020Jaxon Buell / Date of deathnull
FAQs
What is the oldest living child with anencephaly? ›
Anencephaly is one of the most lethal congenital defects. This case report is of an anencephalic infant who lived to 28 months of life and defies current literature. She is the longest surviving anencephalic infant who did not require life-sustaining interventions.
How is Noah the boy with no brain? ›Incredibly, Noah has defied all odds as he 'grew back' his brain, reaching 80 percent at the age of just three. He has also far exceeded all expectations, managing to talk, hear, see and smile. His mum, Shelly, runs an Instagram account for him, sharing progress updates and day-to-day life for the ten-year-old.
How was the miracle baby born without a brain? ›Jaxon Buell's life inspired people around the world. Born with 80% of his brain missing he defied doctors' expectations & leaves a legacy of strength and sweetness.
What happened to the baby that was born without a brain? ›Almost all babies born with anencephaly will die shortly after birth.
Has any baby survived anencephaly? ›These data show that over 40 percent of liveborn anencephalic infants (51% males; 34% females) survive longer than 24 hours, and of these, 5 percent are still alive on the seventh day.
Is anencephaly caused by drug use? ›Certain drugs and risk factors increase the chance of having a baby with anencephaly or another NTD, including: Lack of folic acid: Women who don't get enough folic acid (vitamin B9) when they're pregnant have a higher risk of having a baby with anencephaly.
Who is the kid with 2% of his brain? ›Noah Wall from Cumbria has defied the odds and he celebrated his tenth birthday on Sunday after being born with just 2% of his brain function. To celebrate his special day, he hosted a virtual party where others could get involved by printing out their own Hugs For Noah party decorations.
Is Noah gender neutral? ›Gender: In the U.S., Noah has traditionally been used as a boy's name. However, there is a feminine version of the name, Noa, which is also a biblical name (one of the Five Daughters of Zelophehad) and it is a very popular name in Israel, Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands.
How long can you live without a brain? ›But in humans, the architecture of the brain is very different. "I can guarantee you that no human, no matter how you did it, would be surviving for 18 months after the brain was cut off," Zemmar said. "It's impossible."
What are unicorn babies? ›Babies who wake up every 2 hours to feed for weeks and weeks
Waking every 1-4 hours is much more common than babies who sleep 8 hours a night from birth (I like to call these super sleepers "unicorn babies" - I have heard of them, but have never experienced one myself).
Are people with hydranencephaly aware? ›
Hydranencephaly is a rare neurological condition in which the cerebral hemispheres are either absent or severely compromised. It is widely believed that children with hydranencephaly are not conscious; and therefore, are routinely classified into the diagnostic criteria of vegetative state.
Can a fetus grow without a brain? ›Anencephaly is a serious birth defect where a baby is born without parts of their skull and brain. It's a rare type of neural tube defect that affects about 1 in 4,600 babies. There is no way to treat anencephaly. Babies born with this condition will die before or shortly after birth.
Do anencephalic babies cry? ›His body is formed like a perfect human being's, but he is not emotionally or mentally “alive”; he can breathe and eat and even cry, but he cannot think or speak or know. In biological terms, an anencephalic child is a living organism, but not a live human being.
Do anencephalic babies feel pain? ›They do not have a forebrain or cerebrum (the major "thinking" structure of the brain), and the remaining brain tissue is often not covered by bone or skin. The baby will be blind, deaf, unconscious and unable to feel pain.
Is Jaxon Strong still living? › Can you donate organs of a child with anencephaly? ›Organ donation may only be considered if the anencephalic infant has satisfied the criteria for brain death or somatic death as applied to other human beings. Physicians should ensure that the same ethical standards applied to other organ donors are used for infants with anencephaly.
What does an anencephalic baby look like? ›Newborn Care
The diagnosis of anencephaly can be confirmed on physical examination when the following criteria are met: a large portion of the skull is absent, the scalp is absent over the skull defect, and a hemorrhagic, fibrotic mass of tissue is exposed to the environment.
Anencephaly is when the neural tube fails to close at the base of the skull. Neural tube defects may be caused by genes passed on from both parents and by environmental factors. Some of these factors include obesity, uncontrolled diabetes in the mother, and some prescription medicines.
Does stress cause anencephaly? ›The association of stressful life events with anencephaly and spina bifida was stronger among women who did not take folic acid supplements than among women who did take supplements (Table 4).
Can drinking alcohol cause anencephaly? ›Anencephaly describes the incomplete development of the brain and spinal cord in infants that results in high mortality rates. Alcohol increases the risk for this defect.
Can anencephaly happen twice? ›
Future pregnancies are not likely to be affected by the condition. However, if you have had a baby with anencephaly, there is a small chance, up to 2% (2 out of 100), of having another baby with the condition.
Who is having 32 brains? ›Leech: The interior structure of a leech is divided into 32 different segments, each of which has its own brain.
Do we technically have 2 brains? ›But what is real is the fact that there definitely are two distinct brain hemispheres - a left and a right. These hemispheres each receive half our visual information, and direct half our movement - the left brain controls the right side of our body, the right brain controls the left.
How many brains does a baby have? ›At birth your baby has 100 billion brain cells but few connections (synapses) between these cells.
What is the opposite gender of God? ›Human beings are biologically male and female, but not God, because the divine does not have a body. The application of masculine and feminine gender to the divine is simply metaphorical and grammatical. God is spirit who is both male and female and neither.
What is the best girl name for a girl? ›- Olivia.
- Emma.
- Charlotte.
- Amelia.
- Ava.
- Sophia.
- Isabella.
- Mia.
Eve /iːv/ is an English given name for a female, derived from the Latin name Eva, in turn originating with the Hebrew חַוָּה (Chavah/Havah – chavah, to breathe, and chayah, to live, or to give life). The traditional meaning of Eve is life or "living".
Can a brain be kept alive forever? ›A: It's possible to keep an isolated brain alive, but only briefly. And for ethical and practical reasons, many experts steer clear of this scenario. Scientists first kept a mammalian brain alive outside its body for about eight hours in the early 1990s.
Can you keep a brain alive on its own? ›The brains of many different organisms have been kept alive in vitro for hours, or in some cases days.
Can the heartbeat without the brain? ›If brain death is confirmed, why does an individual's heart continue beating? As long as the heart has oxygen, it can continue to work. The ventilator provides enough oxygen to keep the heart beating for several hours.
What is a butterfly baby? ›
Epidermolysis bullosa is a rare genetic condition that makes skin so fragile that it can tear or blister at the slightest touch. Children born with it are often called “Butterfly Children” because their skin seems as fragile as a butterfly wing. Mild forms may get better with time.
What is a dragon baby? ›The offspring of dragons are referred to as hatchlings, wyrmlings or whelps in most fantasy settings and stories.
What does a butterfly baby mean? ›This represents a baby that was part of a multiple pregnancy but sadly all of the babies did not survive.” The purple butterfly sticker.
Do kids with hydranencephaly have a brain? ›Hydranencephaly is a rare condition in which the brain's cerebral hemispheres are absent and replaced by sacs filled with cerebrospinal fluid. An infant's head size and spontaneous reflexes such as sucking, swallowing, crying, and moving the arms and legs may all seem to be okay.
What causes death in hydranencephaly? ›A blockage in the baby's carotid artery that prevented blood flow to the brain. Infections in the womb that caused the baby's brain tissue to die. Lack of oxygen to the baby's brain.
What is being aware of your own existence? ›Individuals become conscious of themselves through the development of self-awareness. This particular type of self-development pertains to becoming conscious of one's own body and mental state of mind including thoughts, actions, ideas, feelings and interactions with others.
What age does a fetus develop a brain? ›The fetal brain begins to develop during the third week of gestation. Neural progenitor cells begin to divide and differentiate into neurons and glia, the two cell types that form the basis of the nervous system. By the ninth week, the brain appears as a small, smooth structure.
Can a fetus be removed and put back? ›A human fetus has for the first time been removed from the womb, given surgery, and successfully returned to the womb to be born alive, in an important surgical advance by doctors at the University of California at San Francisco.
At what age is a baby's brain fully developed? ›At birth, the average baby's brain is about a quarter of the size of the average adult brain. Incredibly, it doubles in size in the first year. It keeps growing to about 80% of adult size by age 3 and 90% – nearly full grown – by age 5. The brain is the command center of the human body.
What is the longest living child with anencephaly? ›Anencephaly is one of the most lethal congenital defects. This case report is of an anencephalic infant who lived to 28 months of life and defies current literature. She is the longest surviving anencephalic infant who did not require life-sustaining interventions.
Who is at risk for anencephaly? ›
Several studies have reported various risk factors linked to anencephaly, which include socioeconomic status, parental education, maternal age and occupation, smoking, alcoholism, maternal reproductive history, infection during early pregnancy, diabetes, obesity, and maternal use of caffeine and medications during ...
Is anencephaly more common in girls? ›Anencephaly occurs more often in girls but can occur in both girls and boys. What causes anencephaly? Approximately 95 percent of children born with anencephaly are born into families with no family history of anencephaly or a neural tube defect.
What happened to Jaxon Buell? ›Jaxon Buell, the boy who was nicknamed “Jaxon Strong” for his determination to live after he was born with an extreme brain malformation, has died. He was 5. The child passed away "very peacefully and comfortably" on April 1 in North Carolina, his parents said.
How long did Jaxon Buell live? ›He was 5 years old. Jaxon died in North Carolina on April 1, years after he was born with just part of his skull due to a birth defect called microhydranencephaly, his dad Brandon told WJXT.
How old is Jaxon Buell now? ›NORTH CAROLINA – Jaxon Buell, a 5-year-old who captivated people across the world with his unique look and inspirational story, has passed away. He died on April 1.
What is the lifespan of anencephaly? ›When Krysta was 18 weeks pregnant, she learned that her daughter had anencephaly, a serious birth defect in which a baby is born without parts of the brain and skull. Life expectancy ranges anywhere from moments, to just a few days.
Can you have a healthy baby after anencephaly? ›Parents who have a child with anencephaly may have a 4% to 10% risk of having a child affected by neural tube defects in a future pregnancy, although the specific neural tube defect might not be anencephaly.
Are babies born with anencephaly in pain? ›If the skin of the anencephalic newborn is exposed to stinging, pressure or punching, they cry painfully. Based on neurological examination of anencephalic newborns it is concluded that responses to noxious stimuli such as avoidance, withdrawal, or painful crying are of a brain stem origin in the human species.
Does anencephaly run in families? ›Inheritance. Most cases of anencephaly are sporadic, which means they occur in people with no history of the disorder in their family. A small percentage of cases have been reported to run in families; however, the condition does not have a clear pattern of inheritance.
What is the main cause of anencephaly? ›Anencephaly is when the neural tube fails to close at the base of the skull. Neural tube defects may be caused by genes passed on from both parents and by environmental factors. Some of these factors include obesity, uncontrolled diabetes in the mother, and some prescription medicines.
How does anencephaly cause death? ›
Anencephaly is a part of the neural tube defect (NTD) spectrum. This defect results when the neural tube fails to close during the third to fourth weeks of development, leading to fetal loss, stillbirth, or neonatal death.