With a no-nonsense look on her face, Mairilin Muñoz says of her son, Freddy: “He is a fighter.”
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The beloved boy she delivered at 23 weeks has been fighting since birth: first to survive, then to accomplish everyday tasks that come much easier to other children.
This September, on NICU Awareness Month, NBC6 puts the spotlight on children who receive neonatal intensive care, and the healthcare professionals who provide it.
Freddy Urribarri has already overcome daunting barriers in his little life. The day after his birth, he suffered a brain bleed and battled serious complications for five months in the NICU at Joe DiMaggio Children’s hospital.
“The first months were the hardest for Freddy,” Muñoz remembers. She would leave his side to go home and be terrified of receiving a phone call from the doctors with bad news.
One complication left him facing a possible arm amputation. Another would cause cardiac arrest. Doctors had to resuscitate him multiple times.
Freddy’s physicians were not sure whether he would survive, much less be able to eat, speak, or walk on his own.
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But once he made it out of the NICU, Freddy started coming to weekly therapy sessions at Memorial Hospital West.
Geisha Rivera is his occupational therapist. She places a hand on Freddy, now 3 years old, while he crawls up a ramp over and over.
“This is good for the core,” she explained.
Rivera is patient when Freddy slides back down and takes a break. But he always gets up again.
At first glance, you’re unlikely to notice Freddy has any disability. He is full of energy, and happy, his mom likes to say.
Freddy still relies on a gastrointestinal tube for nourishment, but he is learning how to chew. He can already drink milk, and eat soup by mouth. He takes steps with a walker and seems to delight in figuring out how to get around.
Freddy’s mom has many hopes for him, but one in particular for when he turns four in October.
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She hopes that will be the age Freddy learns to walk without help.