He weighed just 420 grams at birth, and doctors gave him less than a 1% chance of survival. Four years later, Curtis Means is celebrating his birthday by playing, talking nonstop, and proudly posing with the world record that made his story one of the most extraordinary in neonatology.
Curtis was born at 21 weeks and one day of gestation, 132 days earlier than expected. He was so tiny he fit in his mother’s hands and spent nine months in intensive care, in addition to needing a ventilator for his first three months. His twin sister, C’Aysa, did not survive, but his mother never stopped fighting for him.
Today he weighs nearly 15 kilograms, plays with his toys, talks a lot, and even uses his mom’s phone to call other people. The baby who fought to survive has just turned four and is still growing, far from the machines that kept him alive.
