Wyoming toddler Oakley Hawk would not be here today if his parents had listened to their doctor’s advice.
After Oakley was diagnosed with microcephaly in the womb, Phebie Hawk said her doctor encouraged her to have a late-term abortion, the Gillette News Record reports.
“We went to a doctor in Denver and she told me I should have an abortion because he would have no quality of life,” the Wyoming mother said. “She said this at 27 weeks pregnant. Basically, she wanted us to have a late-term abortion and to let him die on his own.”
She and her husband, Cody, refused. And today, they are so happy they did. Oakley is about to celebrate his fourth birthday — defying doctors’ predictions that he would live only a few hours outside the womb.
“He’s a miracle, that’s for sure,” Phebie said. “He wasn’t supposed to make it minutes to hours after birth. … Then he wasn’t supposed to live past a year old. We were told he’d never walk and never talk.”
Remembering her pregnancy, Phebie Hawk told the local news: “We chose to continue with the pregnancy and enjoy every kick and wiggle he made. … I think about [the doctor’s advice to have an abortion] a lot and it makes me sad. If we had listened to that lady, we would’ve missed out on the best thing that’s ever happened to us.”
Though Oakley suffers from multiple health issues, including cerebral palsy, epilepsy, juvenile arthritis and blindness in one eye, his family said he has a spirit of joy.
“He’s our hero,” his mother said. “He fights every day, and he is in so much pain all the time and nothing holds him back. He lives every day to the fullest and a lot of people should strive to be like him and enjoy their lives.”
Their local community recently gave Oakley and his family a very special gift.
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Here’s more from the report:
Thanks to Make-A-Wish Wyoming and help from a host of local volunteers, the toddler has his own fire engine-themed soft play set and something that would make him the envy of most kids his age — a ride on a Campbell County Fire Department ladder truck.
“He loves them,” Phebie said about Oakley’s fascination with everything firefighter. “He started showing interest in them last year and he really gets excited seeing a firetruck go by or hearing a siren.”
Not only did the firefighters at Station 1 give Oakley a tour of the firehouse and a ride on a 100-foot ladder truck, they also adopted him as an honorary firefighter. He now has his own official T-shirt and sweatshirt with his name embroidered on them and a special No. 1 chief’s helmet.
It is heartwarming to see a community come together to support a child like Oakley and his family. So many parents are pressured to abort “imperfect” unborn babies because of a disability diagnosis, and after birth they and their children often face stigma and negative comments. But the Gillette community and many others like them encourage families to choose life by demonstrating that every life is valuable and deserving of love.
