A baby boy that was born seventeen weeks early has survived after his parents refused to turn off his life support.
Back in June 2021, Chay Jefferys was born seventeen weeks early at just at twenty-three weeks where he weighed just 1lb.
Many thought the outlook was bleak for baby Chay, but he has defied all the odds after spending 9 months fighting for his life.
According to the Metro, when Chay was born he was inside of his amniotic sack and had to be resuscitated by medics before being rushed to intensive care.
Speaking with the outlet, his mom, Megan McGee said: “When he was born, he didn’t cry as he wasn’t breathing. It was horrible not knowing what was going on but a really lovely nurse took a little video of them working on him, so I had an idea of what was happening.”
When Chay was just 3 days old, doctors found that he’d suffered bleeds on both sides of his brain and that there was damage to the white matter and cerebellum.
Then, just 3 weeks old, Chay’s mom and dad, Bradley Jefferys, received yet more devastating news…
Chay’s kidneys began to fail and doctors were advising that they turned off his life-support machines.
McGee told the outlet that she “said no right away” as she wasn’t “going to give up on him.”
“They kept suggesting it, but he just kept getting bigger and better and so eventually they stopped asking,” she said.
Chay was in hospital for 280 days before he was eventually allowed to go home.
“It was so scary, Chay was so tiny, he fit in the palm of my hand,” McGee said. “I just thank my lucky stars he wasn’t born just a few days earlier as he wouldn’t have made the cut off point as babies born at 23 weeks are usually deemed too premature for doctors to treat.”
She also added that after being told Chay would “never walk, talk, smile” he is now “9 months old thriving, feeding, and smiling” and she is hopeful that he will reach all his milestones.
“He’s so amazing and he’s come so far already. He’s got a lot of catching up to do but I know he’ll do it,” she said. “He still needs a bit of oxygen, but they think he’ll be off that in a few months too, it’s wonderful.”
McGee added that Chay is “our little hero.”