Welcoming a child to the world is a truly life-changing experience, and one that’s difficult to explain to anyone who hasn’t themselves been through it.
Of course, raising a child is a challenge unlike any other, and usually presents a roller-coaster of ups and downs that color the lives of any new parent in ways they would never have expected.
For the most part, it’s a time filled with joy and happiness. But what happens when a parent is forced to watch their child battle through serious illness?
Every day, children all over the world are seriously injured or given bad news from a doctor with regards their overall health. In such situations, we as parents are left perilously close to helpless. We can pray, and tell our babies that everything is going to be OK, but the stark fact of the matter is that fate can so often be completely out of our hands.
Just ask Lee and Francesca Moore-Williams, of England, UK. The couple were over the moon to welcome second-born Bella to the world, but complications began to show when, at 14 months old, baby Bella started to lose clumps of her hair.
Despite reassurances from doctors that Bella simply had asthma, the girl took a turn for the worse while on a family vacation in Spain. Lee and Francesca returned home to England, looking for answers.
The truth, sadly, was worse than they could have possibly imagined.
Upon landing in their home country, Bella’s parents took her to Colchester Hospital, in Essex. There, a scan revealed that she had no movement in her “depressed legs”.
Worse, her condition was deteriorating. Before long, Bella was slipping in and out of consciousness as she struggled with a lack of energy.
Little Bella was soon moved to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, where she was admitted to intensive care and placed on a ventilator. There, an MRI scan revealed severe abnormalities across both hemispheres of her brain.
As a result, her parents were informed that Bella most likely had a terminal Mitochondrial disease. As per reports, they were told three times that their daughter wouldn’t make; there was very little for them to do but sit by her side and pray every day.
The illness Bella actually had was Biotinidase deficiency — a genetic disorder that affects just one in every 60,000 births. Fortunately, the hospital had dealt with a similar case six years prior, so they knew how best to try and treat it.
After a round of biotin injections – which Bella took for a few days – doctors tried to take her off the ventilator to see if she could breathe by herself. But she couldn’t, so she was quickly put back on the machine.
Despite the best efforts of the medical professionals, Bella’s health was on the decline, and her family were soon asked to say their farewells at her bedside.
“I now feel a lot of guilt for bringing family members there to say goodbye but I didn’t know that at the time,” Francesca said.
“I will never, ever forget that moment where I had to say goodbye to my daughter.”
Along with their son Bobby, the pair took a final picture with their daughter before turning off her ventilator.
It was then that a positive miracle seemed to occur. Bella tightened her grip as the ventilator was switched off, and soon enough her oxygen levels were showing 100%.
After eventually waking up, the immeasurably brave Bella was moved to a children’s ward. She spent three weeks there, before she was able to return home to her family.
Well, I can safely say this story brought a tear to my eye. I will never get over how unfair the world can be where it concerns innocent children falling ill.
Thank God that Bella showed such an amazing resilience and was able to pull through despite all the odds.
Please, share this article on Facebook to praise the wonderful medical professionals who helped her, and to wish Bella and her family all the best moving forward.
