Grieving parents agreed to take 'lifeless' baby off life-support to say goodbye—seconds later, they screamed with joy
A child's birth is a joyful event for many parents. However, for one couple, that moment was colored with sadness as their baby looked blue and lifeless when he was put on his mom's chest. Doctors made a number of attempts to help the baby, Oscar Bedford, but nothing seemed to work. They finally suggested that the parents, Greg and Chelsea, should take the baby off life support and say their goodbyes. However, just when the parents were about to take the baby off life support, something surprising happened, per Leicestershire Live.
"They said that after taking him off the incubator, he would live for minutes or maybe just seconds," Chelsea recounted. However, the woman really wanted her mom to meet her grandson once, even if she might not be able to do it again. So she held her son close and called her mom. However, she hadn't expected what would happen next. "She was in the middle of the Highcross when the call got through to her and as we were talking, she saw Oscar open his eyes and she just screamed." Chelsea added, "His eyes were open for the first time and it was so surreal – it felt like a dream. I sat on the bed and shook my head like people do in films." The mom described the moment as the best feeling in the world.
The mom could breastfeed her baby after that and Oxford got even better after being fed for the first time. The baby was put in the Rainbows Hospice in Loughborough after that and the parents were told that the baby still might not be able to live for a long time. "He was on an end-of-life plan with orders not to resuscitate him - but after three days, he was taken off the plan." The parents could finally take Oscar back home with them. Their journey wasn't the easiest after the baby was born. "He’s 18 months old now and he’s like a baby aged under three months, but he smiles and he laughs and he loves lights, despite being partially blind," the mom explained back in 2019.
"He loves his trips to Rainbows – he enjoys hearing new voices and listening to music. He really likes being held, and he babbles a lot," Chelsea added. "He was in intensive care a month ago and we thought we were going to lose him. I don’t know how long I’m going to have with him, but while he’s here, I feel he should have everything – especially after all he’s been through." Oxford still suffered from brain damage at 18 months old because of being deprived of oxygen at birth. He had to use a wheelchair and was fed with the help of a tube, according to his GoFundMe page.
The baby also suffered from a life-limiting form of epilepsy called West syndrome. The family was not certain about Oscar's life, but they wanted to do everything possible for him, to keep him happy and healthy. The doctors had started a special form of therapy for the kid's seizures, and he was going through physiotherapy as well. The family created a fundraiser page in the hopes of securing the kind of care Oscar needed. They were able to raise £3,158 (approx $3,700) out of their £5,000 (approx $6,000) goal. Greg and Chelsea welcomed their daughter around February 2020.