Noah Wall was born in 2012, into a family in Cumbria, England, and the ultrasounds had already revealed the worst.
A cyst was destroying his brain. He had spina bifida and hydrocephalus. According to the Mirror, his skull filled with fluid, compressing his brain until it was left as a thin sheet of tissue. Reports said he had barely 2% of his brain. Doctors did not expect him to live more than a few days and advised Shelly and Rob, his parents, to terminate the pregnancy. They did so five times. Rob told the documentary The Boy Without a Brain that it was never an option.
The birth was brought forward by a week because the pressure on the baby’s brain was becoming dangerous. He was born by cesarean section, with 12 doctors in the operating room, and, according to his father, let out a loud cry.
By age 3, according to righttolife.org.uk, his brain had grown to 80% of what was expected and was almost fully functional. The doctors were amazed. At age 7, he moved his foot for the first time after specialized therapy. Today, he talks, counts, goes to school, and enjoys science. He remains paralyzed from the waist down.
The figures come from media reports and the family, without independent medical verification. What surprises you most about his story?
