Jamie Medeiros describes her son, Benton, as a “miracle child” whose arrival came after she and her husband were unsure they’d be able to have children. “Ironically enough, a month before our wedding, I found out I was pregnant,” Jamie says. At about 20 weeks, she found out that Benton could be born with some congenital heart defects and started to make a plan for his care.
“At the time, we lived in Hawaii, and the doctors couldn’t really pinpoint for sure if it was a congenital heart defect,” she says. “We chose to have him in San Diego, rather than Hawaii. When he was born, they found out that the heart defect was way worse than anything we’d been told in Hawaii, so thank goodness we were in the right place.”
To repair his heart, Benton would undergo a three-part surgery, the first at birth, the second at 6 months old and the third at 3 years old. “He went through his first open-heart surgery at 5 days old and came through it like a champ,” Jamie says. Doctors recommended that Jamie and Benton remain in San Diego until Benton could have his second surgery, which was successful. “He had a lot of blood transfusions, because there was a lot of blood loss during surgery,” Jamie says.
But the day before Benton was to be released from the hospital, his care team removed his central line, which caused a blood clot and led to a massive stroke, seizures and an induced coma. Finally, Benton was allowed to return to Hawaii, but he wasn’t out of the woods just yet.
“We were doing well, but a couple months after being home, he got sick and spiked a fever,” Jamie says. “After that, we couldn’t control the seizures. Until he was about 3 years old, he was having hundreds of seizures a day. There was nothing we could do.”
Benton was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and his health regressed. “We finally got him where we could control the seizures, and once that happened, life started changing for us in a positive way,” Jamie says. “But Benton had so much brain damage at that point that he wasn’t making the strides we wanted.”
Now wheelchair bound, Benton is nonverbal but uses an eye-gaze machine to communicate. “He’s a spunky little boy. All of the issues that he has are physical—mentally, he’s 100% there,” Jamie says. “He’s done amazing since then, and we’ve been able to compensate for everything.”
Since overcoming his seizures, Benton has undergone two double hip surgeries and a full spinal surgery, during which he received additional blood transfusions. Though he hasn’t had the third of his three-part heart surgery yet, Jamie is prepared for when the time comes. “We have multiple surgeries in our future, but if it weren’t for blood donors, we wouldn’t have our kid with us today,” she says. “Because of the state his heart is in, what is normal for most people is not normal for him. We’ve seen first-hand how life-changing blood is and what these donors are doing for people.”
The Medeiros family now lives in Indiana, Jamie’s home state, where Benton has access to the medical care he needs. She says he’s a happy middle schooler and proud big brother to Noah. “We live a very blessed life. Our gratitude is for the amazing doctors and blood donors who have played a role every step of the way with Benton,” Jamie says. “To anyone who donates blood, please realize how valuable it is. You are playing a role in saving someone’s life. We don’t give enough credit to the ones who are stepping up and donating. Know that you are appreciated. Without you, my son wouldn’t be here.”
People need people, make a difference in someone’s life by donating blood.
We must rely on each other for the gift of blood, and patients in your community rely on the generosity of Versiti’s blood donors to help. Please consider scheduling an appointment to donate. If this is your first time, donating blood is quick, easy and relatively painless. And, it is a great way to give back and help patients in your community.