Monique Goldring’s baby girl, Phoenix, has been through a lot during her short life. She was born with a heart defect and had two of four palliative surgeries she needs and put a shunt in her heart when she was only two months old. But at seven months old, Phoenix had a sudden cardiac arrest, leaving her with brain damage that put her on life support in the hospital.
After a month, Goldring asked doctors to remove her daughter’s ventilator that helped her breathe, because the mom says she saw how “tired” her baby was. She was told Phoenix wouldn’t survive past six hours, so Goldring waited. But that time came and went and the eight-month-old girl was still fighting. From then on, she “continued to thrive,” the Maryland mother says.
Phoenix still faces serious medical challenges, but her family is planning to celebrate the “miracle” baby’s first birthday August 25th. "Falling apart about it is not going to change the circumstances," Goldring says. "She's clearly not falling apart about it, so I get my strength from her daily."