In Our Hearts, An Angel Is Born.

In a small town of Mississippi, a struggling angel has been born.  Such things are historically cherished and placed at the highest of life’s special moments, but sometimes they come with challenges.  This story is of the birth and life of a baby named Ella Claire…newly born daughter to Scott and April Perkins.   A blessing indeed, but a blessing that still has been forced to earn her life, and I can tell you that she has fought enough to earn two lifetimes.

Ella Claire became a part of my family’s life long before she was even conceived, so she holds a special place with us already.  Scott and April were the best friends my wife and I have ever known.  They are the ones always spoken of when saying “they’d easily give you the shirts off their backs”.  The Perkins family is truly one of God’s gifts to my family, and we too are ready for their struggles to fade away.  Ella Claire deserves a day when she can just be a baby, learning the special family that she has become a part of.  Scott and April are already parents to a beautiful boy named Vail, who has also become a part of our own.  We’ve watched him grow and play with our daughter and could tell right away that a sibling would be perfectly welcomed by him.  He too deserves the time with Ella Claire that he’s missing due to illnesses and struggles, but he and the family know that this day is coming soon.

I remember when I got the phone call that Scott and April were having another baby.  They had been trying for a while.  Everything was coming together and granting them another blessing in life.  The news of this new baby came about in early March.  We watched them glow all month long and were very excited for them.  You could see their pride growing with every inch added to poor April’s tummy.  It wasn’t too far down the road that they discovered their son Vail was going to have a baby sister to play with.  July was the big month for learning that the baby was going to be a girl.  What a month!  Our daughter was born in early July, so it was a good month for the Perkins and Harmon family.  We celebrated our baby’s birthday while basking in the great news of a baby girl coming to the Perkins family.

Well, it was pretty much immediately that the Perkins’ learned of a challenge brought to their unborn baby girl’s life.  This was definitely going to change the focus of two proud parents and force them to understand that there were many things ahead of them that they needed to prepare for.  Baby Ella Claire was going to be born with “Down Syndrome”.  This is a fairly rare condition, but certainly not unheard of.  Down Syndrome is a condition that involves a slight uneven balance of chromosomes in the human body.  This was just the beginning of a long struggle for baby Ella Claire.  She was and is facing a long tough road ahead of her, and all she wants to do is live the life she’s been given.

It wasn’t long after her birth that a specialist found a condition in her that would need immediate surgery.  The disease was intestinal and referred to as “Duodenal Atresia”.  It’s my understanding that this disease can be fatal if not addressed and corrected immediately.  It’s a condition of the intestines tapering too tightly at the place where they empty into the bowels.  This would cause clogging or not allow any passage, creating a blockage that would send her body into grave circumstances.  Luckily the doctor was able to perform the surgery and correct this issue without complications.  I say “without complications”, but keep in mind that such a surgery was performed just 3 days into the birth of Ella Claire.  This is a tramatic thing to go through, period, much less making a newborn experience its misery. 

Well, the challenges just kept coming to the Perkins family and to their beautiful Ella Claire.  Not long after having to go through the agony of the intestinal surgery, they learned that she had a condition causing a hole to develop in her newly beating heart.  At this point, the Perkins’s began to ask themselves if it would ever start to get better.  This newly found condition of Ella Claire’s heart is known as “V.S.D.”.  It’s a ventrical condition in the heart.  “Ventricular Septal Defect” is the proper name.  It’s not uncommon, but it is a condition that wasn’t too favorable for such an infant that was already dealing with so much.  This just meant another exhausting surgical procedure on a baby that was just days old.  How much more could Ella Claire fight through to earn her life?  Too everyone’s amazement and delight, Ella Claire managed to fight hard and fuse the hole in her heart naturally.  Another tough surgery had been avoided, and this couldn’t have brought on more joy to Scott and April. 

Celebration was short lived once again.  Not long down the road did they learn of a condition that was causing the throat area and airway to swell shut.  Without immediate attention, again, poor Ella Claire wouldn’t have a chance.  This procedure forced the doctors to surgically place a tube down her throat to feed her and help her breath.  This is a procedure that she is currently fighting through.  Baby Ella Claire is only a little over 3 months old now and is currently trying to see her new home rather than all the hospital walls around her.  So far the tube is working fine, and Ella Claire’s health continues to fight and grow strong.  We have just learned from our friends that Ella Claire has the chance to leave the hospital next week.  We are all praying for them and hoping that this prediction doesn’t find any challenges that keep it from happening.  My wife and I have been around the Perkins family for almost 10 years now, and they are truly one of the most caring and wonderful friends/family we have ever known.  Ella Claire deserves to grow strong and get to the house that is to be her safe haven.  She deserves to be officially in the Perkins family.  I couldn’t imagine two people more perfect to raise a baby, and Ella Claire’s special needs are going to be no match for their efforts and love.  Ella Claire has spent the entire 3 months of her young life between the walls of a hospital.  It’s time for the Perkins family to wipe clean their worries and get to be the family they’ve longed to experience.

I ask you all, after reading this, to keep the Perkins family in your hearts and in your prayers.  They are members of the Bad Boy and BBI Sports Group Families, so we ask that you hold them deep within yours.  We’ve all faced hardship and challenges in our lives, and we all had people there that made a difference.  Open your hearts and say a prayer for them tonight.  A good thing can come from one, but great things come from many.  Baby Ella Claire is a blessing… a blessing to everyone that will have the opportunity to know her and watch her grow.

Thank you and God bless.