A grieving mother from Utah has decided to donate her breast milk to a Live Well Center.
A grieving mother from Utah won the hearts and mind of the public after deciding to pump her remaining breast milk and donating it to a local Live Well Center. The 28-year-old woman lost her fourth child last year, but instead of grieving for her lost son, she decided to help others in need. Her breast milk can potentially help dozens of women who are unable to breastfeed their children.
Nicura Thompson, a 28-year-old woman from Utah and mother of three, is a regular client of the McKay-Dee Hospital’s Live Well Center. The Center’s staff said that the woman comes in at least a few times a month in order to donate her breast milk.
Behind the woman’s altruism lies a tragic story, which began when Thompson was in her 5th month of pregnancy. Thompson went to the hospital for her scheduled ultrasound, but the results of this test would turn her world upside down.
After looking at the fetus, Thompson’s doctor discovered that he had no less than seven life-threatening heart defects, the telltale sign of a rare condition called DiGeorge Syndrome.
According to the available literature on the subject, DiGeorge Syndrome affects one in 4000 infants, and it was discovered in 1968 by Angelo DiGeorge, a pediatric endocrinologist. Also known as 22q11.2 deletion syndrome, the condition is apparently caused by the deletion of a tiny fragment located in the 22nd chromosome.
Patients diagnosed with the DiGeorge Syndrome can experience a wide array of symptoms ranging from cardiac defects, to cyanosis, hypocalcemia, palatal anomalies, hearing loss to more psychiatric disorders, cognitive impairment, ADD, and seizures.
Thompson delivered her baby on the 21st of October 2016. After a few weeks spent in the hospital, they were sent home. Unfortunately, due to his severe heart defects, the infant survived for only six weeks.
The infant’s mother said that she was grateful for spending some time with baby Colton before his death. Grieving the untimely death of her son, the woman took a decision that would completely change her life.
Learning that there are many mothers who either can’t or don’t have the time to pump their breasts in order to feed their children, Thompson decided to donate her breast milk to the Live Well Center. She started donating breast milk in December, and she’s now very close to achieving her goal of donating 5000 ounces of breast milk.
Image source: Wikipedia