Phoenix the superhero
Phoenix is a superhero in the eyes of his parents, Catherine and Corrie. At just six hours old, Phoenix began to have seizures due to blood loss and a lack of oxygen and nutrients getting to his organs and tissues. He was rushed from his local hospital to SickKids, where his parents received the grim prognosis that he may never walk, talk, feed or communicate due to the loss of oxygen and subsequent brain damage that had occurred.
But through the seizures, multiple transfusions, an MRI and many, many tests, Phoenix fought. “The expertise shown by the doctors, the unwavering support and care he received from his nurses, and all the love and hope the neonatal unit brings, it all gave Phoenix his chance to fight for improvement,” said Catherine.
“It is thanks to SickKids that our little boy was able to fight hard and change his future. It is because of SickKids that he is here with us.”
During this time, Phoenix’s parents didn’t want to leave his bedside. “It’s hard as a parent to leave your child with someone,” said Catherine. “It’s even harder when you are a new parent with a sick child.” Eating, sleeping and bathing were things that the family were ready to do without as those were moments away from their little boy, moments that could be his last. But with the help of the staff at SickKids, stepping away for a few moments became possible.
“The staff became our family,” said Catherine. “They shared in our successes, however small, and also felt the pain when there were setbacks. But never once did they give up on our little boy.”
Over time, Phoenix’s health began to improve and he progressed from the more critical wards toward a regular children’s bed and then, finally, a discharge.
Today, Phoenix is an energetic, humorous and “somewhat trying” 16-month-old. “He is an amazingly deep and whole little person,” said Catherine. He is followed closely by the neonatal follow-up clinic at SickKids and, to date, has miraculously met all his milestones and continues to surprise everyone with his progress.
As a way to say thank you for all that SickKids had done for their son and to show their support, the family participated in the SickKids Lottery in 2014 … and won a prize. They reached out to us via our Facebook page with this message, accompanied with a photo of Phoenix sitting in their prize.
“On September 16th, 2013, SickKids saved our son Phoenix’s life. We felt like we had won the lottery. Today we received our prize from the actual lottery and we feel like winners all over again.”
