A Michigan baby who has been in the hospital for 511 days has finally been released.
Charleigh Gatewood, a 17-month-old baby from mid-Michigan, has been released from a hospital after undergoing 10 surgeries in the same place where she was born. This is the first time the baby has left the hospital after being born.
The baby’s parents of St. Johns talked with WILX, an NBC affiliate in Lansing, about the defects that their daughter has faced since birth.
The CDC states that 1 in every 4,000 babies is born with organs outside of their bodies. “We knew that she was coming out with some defects,” recalled her mom, Katie Gatewood.
Her father said that his daughter had defied almost every odds out there. “She’s gotta be one in a billion at this point,” Gary Gatewood, her father, told WILX.
Her parents said Charleigh has four heart defects and other complications post surgeries. “She has been on the cusp of leaving us far too many times, only to prove us all wrong and keep smiling,” Gary said.
The parents, as well as Snuggles, have teamed up with C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital to start a stuffed animal drive. “Snuggles for Charleigh” is a yearly donation of stuffed animals organized by the Gatewood family.