Op in womb has helped my wee tot rise like a Phoenix
Son walks despite spina bifida battle
A MUM has told how her son has been able to walk after an op on him while in the womb.
Lauren Wark, 28, was 20 weeks into her pregnancy when doctors broke the devastating news that her son would be born with spina bifida – a birth defect that occurs when the spine and spinal cord don’t form properly.
Doctors told Lauren and husband Gordon, 34, their unborn baby would likely never walk.
But Phoenix, now two, has defied the odds by gaining the ability to move his legs, crawl and even stand if he is supported.
Lauren said: “The difference in what we were told Phoenix could do compared to what he can do now is phenomenal.
“Every day he is doing things we thought he never could and he has never stopped progressing.
“He sat up when he was five months and started crawling when he was 13 months and that is when he started to move his legs.”
The couple, from Renfrewshire, knew very little about spina bifida.
They began researching and came across innovative foetal surgery in Belgium that could help repair the lesion in the baby’s spine before he was born, which Lauren now credits with his development.
After tests to confirm her eligibility, Lauren travelled to the University Hospital of Leuven in Belgium for further testing at 25 weeks’ pregnant before doctors confirmed she was suitable for the NHS-funded
every day he is doing things we thought he never could LAUREN WARK PHOENIX’S MUM
procedure. The op was a success and Phoenix seemed eager to begin his journey, being born seven weeks early at just 4lb 11oz on November 1, 2020.
The tot was rushed to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow.
Lauren is proud to have given her wee boy the best chance at life. She added: “Termination was never an option for us and look at him now – look how amazing he is.”
“He is such a motivated wee person and I’ve never meet a boy so determined.
“It is amazing and that brings us so much hope.”
Lauren and Gordon are desperate to help Phoenix continue to improve by fundraising for private electoral stimulation therapy.
So far they’ve raised nearly £3000 for the cost of the machine and payment towards the treatment that could last years.
They will travel to Linlithgow, West Lothian, for the treatment from Movement Physiotherapy after ordering equipment from the US.