HOLLYWOOD, FLA. (WSVN) - A South Florida children’s hospital raised awareness about a serious brain injury while reuniting with several former patients whose lives they helped change.
The medical team at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital reunited with a group of young children who are thriving after being in dire need of help early in their lives.
Each of them suffered from neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, a type of brain injury, also known as HIE, which is caused when a baby’s brain does not receive enough oxygen or blood flow before, during, or shortly after birth. It happens in about two out of every 1,000 live births.
For Lindsey Scannell and her son Jackson, the first three days of his life were agonizing to live through.
“Nobody really could pick him up. He was heavily sedated under morphine. He was monitored 24/7,” said Lindsey.
Two years after that harrowing experience, Jackson is thriving in his recovery from the serious condition he was in as an infant.
“You hear him in the background, yelling and climbing, and he is physically ahead,” said Lindsey.
Patients and families affected by the brain injury chose to hold their reunion in April to mark HIE Awareness Month, to both celebrate each child’s journey and to raise awareness about the dangerous brain injury.
“I feel like HIE should be known to every person, whether you’re a female or a male, because as females, we need to be our advocates, not only for ourselves, but for our children,” said Lindsey.
When a doctor first diagnoses HIE, they immediately place the child on a cooling mat, which helps regulate the infant’s body temperature to 91 degrees.
“It’s a protocol where we cool the babies, ideally within the first six hours of life, for 72 hours. So their temperature is brought down,” said nurse Juan Mesa.
Experts say HIE poses major potential long-term risks, including cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and developmental delays.
“If babies don’t have cooling and they’ve had HIE, they could have significant lifelong impacts, and even babies that have been cooled are at risk,” said Dr. Monica Arroyo.
Doctors and nurses were touched to hear about each family’s experience since their fight with HIE.
“It really brings a warmth to my heart to be able to see that we make an impact and a difference in the life of the babies, I mean, they have their whole life ahead of them, and being able to have that little effect on their outcomes is so rewarding for us,” said Mesa.
Organizations like Hope for HIE are also working to raise awareness about brain injury and provide critical support and resources to those impacted by HIE.
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