This little baby was born only 48 hours after doctors would have considered her ineligible for medical assistance due to being so premature. But against all odds, this miracle baby managed to survive, making an amazing journey towards a full recovery.
Premature newborn Francesca Bradley-Curran was born on April 23, 2016, just 48 hours after the medical termination deadline. Had the baby been born before the deadline, the doctors would not have treated her, as babies born so prematurely often have bodies so underdeveloped it is nearly impossible to save them.
Initially, Victoria and her partner, Paul Curran, then 46, were taken by surprise to find out she was pregnant.
Victoria had been told she was likely never going to have children, as she had problems with her ovaries, making Francesca a miracle baby on multiple levels.
Victoria’s initial visit to the hospital came after suffering severe back pain, and only then was it discovered she was pregnant. The next morning, however, Victoria suddenly went into labor.
After being born, Francesca, struggling to take her first breath of life in the world, weighed only 1 pound, 6 ounces (approx. 624 grams).
“I thought she still looked like a fetus. Her skin was see-through, and she didn’t have eyelashes or eyebrows,” Victoria describes. “Her eyes weren’t open yet.”
A team of 15 doctors and nurses worked tirelessly to keep Francesca alive. Not knowing if she would survive, the 11 minutes it took for Francesca to take her first breath were torture for Victoria.
The new mother was even given a memento, her daughter’s tiny footprints, which were the size of pennies, as no one expected her to survive.
Victoria was allowed to spend just three and a half hours with her daughter before she was taken to intensive care.
After battling against the odds to take her first breath, baby Francesca then had to overcome sepsis, a collapsed lung, and meningitis.
However, this miracle baby was off the incubator within eight weeks.
“She was just tiny, and so poorly. We were told it was hour by hour with her, and they didn’t think she would survive. Her blood was full of infections,” explains Victoria.
But amazingly, every day, Francesca kept getting stronger, even after undergoing 15 blood transfusions, laser eye surgery, kidney problems, and more. Baby Francesca proved to be a true miracle and kept going.
“She just kept getting stronger each day, then something else would happen,” Victoria says. After 17 intense weeks of miracle upon miracle, Francesca was finally allowed to go home in September 2016.
To commemorate the family’s triumph over so many obstacles, Victoria got a tattoo of little Francesca’s penny-sized feet on her wrist.
Francesca shows us the true nature of miracles—and not just once, but proves to us over and over again that miracles are alive and well, just as little Francesca is today.
Indeed, this little girl is a powerful fighter and has proven it by defying all odds. The happy girl is now a 3-year-old toddler who showed her strong will to survive.
