Pregnant Teen with Brain Cancer Given 0% Chance of Survival, Delivers 'Miracle Baby'
Seventeen-year-old Dana Scatton was stunned to find out she was pregnant. She was scared of what was to come but told her parents, and they accepted the news the best they could.
She started experiencing a few odd symptoms, but her family chalked this up to her pregnancy. “I was forgetting to swallow, and my speech got weird. Then my legs started not responding to things — when I would walk, my legs would drag,” Dana said.
At seven and a half months of pregnancy, Dana and her family got the devastating diagnosis.
Dana had brain cancer in its deadliest form.
At a 0% survival rate, Dana knew she wouldn’t be around for most of her baby’s life. She wanted to deliver the baby a bit early so she could start treatment.
That way, Dana would have some time with her new baby before she passed on. Unfortunately, her symptoms only grew worse.
When her life was in immediate danger, the doctors decided they needed to start radiation right away. Dana put her and her baby’s life in the hands of doctors and God.
“I feel like God just directed the doctors to help decide what I should do,” Dana told the Daily Advertiser.
“I wasn’t sure if I wanted to start radiation without having the baby because I didn’t want it to hurt her.”
Although the doctors said the treatment shouldn’t harm the baby, Dana and her mother, Lenore, remained worried. They accepted the treatment, but Dana’s health continued to decline.
A few weeks later, doctors decided it would be best to perform a C-section. Aries Marie was born on Jan. 4, weighing 4 pounds, 6 ounces.
“She was crying and once they put her on Dana’s chest, she stopped,” Dana’s brother, Josiah, said. “The baby is doing really well … I told my boss about the birth, and he said, ‘One miracle down … one to go.’ ”
Although Dana is still facing the deadly diagnosis, she feels that it’s all part of God’s plan for her.
“I always felt like people would remember my name … that I was gonna do something super big for everyone else,” she said.
“I never knew you could feel so strongly about something, that you’re gonna do something, and you don’t even know what it’s for. I always wanted to figure out what it was.
“Now that it’s here, I am trying to figure out what God wants me to do with it,” Dana explained. “But he’ll tell me.”
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