Doctors said little Brody Unrau was “incompatible with life” when he was born 15 weeks early in November after suffering a series of health problems in the womb.
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“Brody was connected to his twin, Blake, who didn’t make it when he was born,” his dad, Eric Unrau, told CBC. “But I guess that we found out that Brody, all of his body parts were working twice as hard because he was growing his brother beside him.”
But now, eight months after Brody’s birth at just 1 lb. 11 oz., he is defying the odds, despite some ongoing challenges. Still, his very survival after being born at 25 weeks gestation is being considered a miracle.
According to Pembina Valley Online, doctors were shocked by Brody’s recovery, especially considering that they believed he didn’t have enough intestine to survive.
But when they did surgery in May they reportedly found twice as much intestine as they were expecting, leaving them baffled.
“We’ve been told many times his odds were very small of making it, even from the womb,” Eric told the outlet, adding that prayer has helped. “Doctors would come in expecting Brody to pass away during the night, meanwhile we’ve been up with him praying, and a lot of other people had been praying as well.”
Of course, Brody’s issues haven’t entirely vanished.
“He still has a breathing machine and a lot of extra support from the hospital, but he recently just had a big setback. He had a big infection that almost caused him to pass away,” his mom, Randi, told CBC. “He’s slowly improving from that, but he still has a long way to go.”
So far, Brody has spent his life in the hospital. But his struggles aside, his parents said that their experiences navigating his illness have reaffirmed their faith. Randi credits God’s intervention with her son’s survival.
“The medical system is amazing and we’ve seen that, but there are some things they just can’t explain… other than that God is bigger,” she said, noting that her son’s story is causing people who didn’t previously believe in prayer to change their minds. “It’s awesome to watch how God is working through everything.”
Read more about Brody’s story here.