Frieda Smith, who gave birth to Stonewall Jackson Smith in 1979, remembers being confronted by a doctor just days after a difficult birth, before she had time to come to terms with her baby's birth impairment.
"He (the doctor) told me that I would always have to take care of him, that he would be blind, that he would never know me, that he was more like some kind of animal than a human being," she says. "He never really sat down with me and explained what the operation would do for Stoney." Ms. Smith was never told that the failure rate for spina bifida treatments is very low, nor did she understand that the operation would reduce the degree of sensory, mobility and intellectual impairment that her son experienced. "He made it sound like Stoney would live longer, but he wouldn't ever get any better." (for link see previous post).
The good news is that now such defects can be closed in the womb.
Samuel's story is quite well known, thanks to his famous picture.
Here is Anna's story, with links from the local paper. Gives a lot of links to put into perspective the entire struggle to save Anna's life and give her early treatment to prevent major disability.
Matt Drudge, call your office....
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