Heroes come in all shapes and sizes

Each year the March of Dimes selects families, children and celebrities whose life have been saved by their research, programs, or educational campaigns to give a face to their mission or who has a passion to help all families have stronger, healthier babies.
Families around the country play a vital role in the March of Dimes efforts to help give babies a healthy start. Working with March of Dimes chapters, Local Ambassador Families, share their story in their community in an effort to gain local support.
John Thomas Wall of Kaplan has been chosen as the 2014 Acadiana March of Dimes Ambassador. He is the son of Ben and Courtney Wall, grandson of Tommy and Cecile LeJeune and Jimmy and Ora Wall all of Gueydan.
This honor is bestowed on a premature child that has spent a considerable amount of time in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and has benefited medically from March of Dimes research.
After years of infertility and two adoptions, giving birth to a child was a dream wehad laid to rest says, J.T.’ s mother, Courtney. She continues to tell the story of their little hero.“However, God works in mysterious ways and our timing is not His timing. In January of 2008 we found out that we were in fact expecting. We were stunned but elated. This being our third child but first pregnancy, we were sure about the parenting part but unsure about the pregnancy part. Everything seemed to be going along as planned until the 26th week. What was thought to be Braxton hicks contractions by a first time pregnant mom, turned out to be real contractions.
The fear that gripped our hearts hearing the words “this baby may be born today” was almost unbearable. We were transported to Women’s and Children’s Hospital immediately. For six days every measure and precaution was taken to give our son the best chance at survival. On June 1, 2008 John Thomas Wall was born. He weighed in at two pounds one ounce and was 12 inches long. From his first breath of life to the last day of his three month stay in the NICU he was surrounded by the very best care. He was born with ecoli, three holes in his heart, ROP and a hernia. His little lungs were very immature and needed lots and lots of help so he was on oxygen and a ventilator for weeks. As well as 3 doses of surfactant. On day 5 or 6 it was discovered that our little miracle had a bleed on his brain. We were hopeful that the next few scans would show improvement but that’s wasn’t what happened. By the third scan a grade IV IVH was discovered. This meant bad news, the worst it could be. We were told to expect some brain damage or possibly cerebral palsy. Our world was in a tailspin. How could this child, who we were never supposed to have, be conceived to possibly die or have debilitating issues. The questions swirled in our heads. The whys, the why me? The why him? Then it clicked. It doesn’t matter, none of it matters. God made him perfect and He made him for US. So no matter what was wrong, we were going to get through it. If I had to push a wheelchair for the rest of my life I would proudly push a wheelchair with my miracle in it. He has had his share of surgeries. First we were shipped to New Orleans for a resivoir until he was big enough for a shunt. Then a shunt to drain the fluid off of his brain. Next the surgery to repair his hernia, then lastly a shunt revision. Watching this fragile human endure so much was heartbreaking. As a parent we want to shield our children from anything that hurts. All we could do was hold him during our designated hours and pray.
Through a combination of all those prayers, great doctors and nurses and the medication and resources made available by funding from the March of Dimes that tiny miracle is a happy, healthy six year old. He’s got a few battle scars from his rocky start but his daddy tells him, chicks dig scars buddy and that usually gets a thumbs up and a big smile. Everyday we are thankful for all the resources that are available to help save babies like ours."