Support Premature Baby Owen

We are Steve and Mary Lee Bannes. Kevin Carter has been part of our ‘family’ since his birth. When Rebecca came into Kevin’s life, she joined ‘the family’ as did their first child Graham.

Their second child, Owen Anthony Carter came into this world eight weeks premature on March 1, 2022. Since birth, he has been treated in the NICU units at Mercy Hospital St. Louis and now SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital where he was transferred on March 29 to have heart surgery to address his Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA) and Vascular Ring Anomaly causing respiratory distress due to tracheal compression. During surgery, his right lung collapsed. The surgeon and medical team were able to insert a chest tube and get him stabilized, but the surgery was stopped.

Currently, he’s being medicated to keep himself comfortable and sedated while he is on a ventilator. He had a CAT scan which revealed a minor brain bleed. His brain activity is lower than they would like to see at this point which indicates a brain injury has occurred, but the neurologists are unable to determine the degree of the injury until he can have an MRI. The immediate goal is to have him stabilized to allow the needed surgery to be completed. The medical team remains confident in Owen’s ability to pull through this. He is very sick, but there is still a lot of hope that he will recover from this.

Kevin and Rebecca’s lives are forever changed. Medical bills for Owen’s care will be extensive and are mounting. The money raised will be used for those bills and other expenses (Rebecca’s prenatal and postnatal hospitalizations, Owen’s future home care, household expenses, replacement income, etc.).

If you feel you would like to help these two wonderful parents through this time, please donate now. Any gift is greatly appreciated!