On October 18th, Jessica went in for an ultrasound and was told to stay and wait for the results. The results came back and the doctor said the babies biophysical rate was 2/8 and didn't like the sounds of the babies heart rate. Next thing she knew, she was being rushed in for an emergency c-section. Kieran was born shortly after at 6:16pm, weighing only 720 grams. He needed CPR and was rushed to McMasters children's hospital. A few days later, Jessica and her fiance Aaron had a meeting with the doctors where they were then told the most devastating news. Kieran had suffered a stroke at 24 weeks in utero and had two grade 4 brain bleeds. The doctors explained how the stroke damaged two areas in his brain, how he could be severely disabled, no motor skills on his left side, and might not be able to process what he can see, feel, think, etc. Their world quickly shattered when the doctors advised them to be prepared for the worse, and to think of what they wanted to do when it came to Kieran's life.

Jessica and Aaron refused to let their little boy go, and told the doctors that this wasn't up to them. This is Kieran's fight, and it's up to him on if he can handle all this and wants to be here.

In the first month of Kieran's life, he needed constant blood transfusions, suffered from a collapsed lung, had a clot on his liver, and had a few hernias found that will need surgery to fix when he's bigger.

Two months later, Kieran is still fighting like a champ. However, he has a long way to go before he can leave the hospital to go home.

Jessica and Aaron live an hour away from the hospital and have been driving back and forth everyday to go see Kieran. This has been very costly for them, filling up on gas every few days and paying for parking daily at the hospital. Aaron has also been off work since Kieran was born. Please help these new parents during this stressful time. A little can go a long way.