Seeing Hope (6): Grayson James Walker and the value of a life

Heather Walking was preparing for the arrival of her third child when, sixteen weeks into the pregnancy, her baby was diagnosed with Anecephaly, a fatal birth defect. In spite of the news, she carried her baby, named Grayson, to term, and was determined to keep Grayson's birth and short life joyful for her and her family. Read their story here.

"You know, my son lived almost eight hours, and he's already done in eight hours what I could never do in a hundred lifetimes, and that's awesome." - Patrick Walker (Grayson's father)

When Heather posted photos of Grayson onto her Facebook page, the pictures were deleted and Heather was banned from Facebook - but she has gotten a tonne of support and is determined to stop Grayson's life from being censored! Just an all-around heartwarming story; I bawled my eyes out reading about Grayson and the love he was surrounded with in his short life.

Council of Canadians with Disabilities response to Taking Mercy

Everyone should read this.
 
"When you reduce the powerful and purposeful lives of persons with disabilities by using trite comments likening our existence to that of pets, plants, mere burdens or simplified stereotypes, you portray us as subhuman and suffering."

Girl Denied Transplant due to Mental Disability

Please everyone, share this story with as many people as possible, and go to the facebook page of the CHoP to let them know what you think! A little girl named Amelia is being denied life-saving treatment due to her intellectual disability and concern over her quality of life 30 years down the road once her parents are no longer there to care for her. I can hardly believe that there are people, doctors and social workers no less, who would do and say such things to a beautiful young girl and her family. This type of discrimination is outrageous, and is all the more horrifying because it is directed at a child.

Details concerning this specific case from the Hospital have yet to be released, but you can read the family's testimony here.

2012/04/20 EDIT: Turns out that the public outcry had an amazing impact on this decision - Amelia is now (as of Feb 15 which was the most recent article I could find) being considered for a kidney transplant! How amazing that the public rallied around this beautiful little girl. This really gives me hope for others with disabilities - even amongst all of the media attention being devoted to why those with disabilities would not want to live (look here or here for recent examples), enough people saw Amelia's life as valuable (as all lives are) to make a difference.

Down's Syndrome

A friend of mine was discussing an acquaintance the other day. This acquaintance just had a baby. You'd think that having a baby is an exciting thing! But instead of being happy for her acquaintance, she focused on the tragedy of giving birth to a baby with Down's Syndrome. The family knew ahead of time that their child was disabled, and she just couldn't understand it. Especially because this family already had 5 children before this little one.

"What a sad thing. They went into it knowingly. Well, they made their choice."

Where is the joy for this new baby? :(