Shannon Bradley steeled herself as she listened to the doctor’s devastating verdict on her baby daughter Anika.
“The seizures have stopped, but I have to warn you: if she survives, she will be brain damaged – how do you feel about that?” he said.
Shannon and her partner Matt Godfrey looked down at Anika, marvelling at the way she was fighting for life. Shannon broke into a smile.
“You told me I wouldn’t be taking my baby home – but now I am. I’m so happy,” she said.
It was the turning point for Shannon and Matt (both 22) after weeks of despair.
“We’d been warned Anika was going to die but suddenly we realised what a fighter she was. If she wasn’t going to give up, there was no way we would give up on her.”
Now two years old, Anika has defied the odds. She has cerebral palsy, is blind and has a thyroid problem – but she still delights her doting parents with her peaceful presence and new achievements.
The family’s rollercoaster ride began with Anika’s birth on 12 February 2005.
“The day she was born was the happiest of my life,” says Shannon, who lives with Matt in Petone, near Wellington.
Although the pregnancy wasn’t planned, the couple – who met at intermediate school – were thrilled to become parents. They adored Anika, who was a beautiful, placid baby. But one night, when Anika was two-and-a-half weeks old, Shannon had trouble settling her as she kept wanting to feed.
“I called oum, who came and rocked her to sleep. Anika then slept the whole night through, which she had never done before.”
The next morning, Shannon tried to wake her baby daughter.
“I was full of milk so I tried to feed her, but she was too sleepy.”
Anika continued sleeping for a while, but woke up screaming. Shannon instinctively knew something was wrong.
“oum suggested I call the midwife, who came over that morning.”
Almost as soon as the midwife saw Anika, they were on their way to hospital.
“In the 10 minutes it took to get there, Anika deteriorated and was whimpering. I could tell she was in pain and wasn’t breathing properly.”
Within two hours, doctors had diagnosed meningitis.
“I remember thinking that you hear about meningitis but it’s the kind of thing you imagine won’t ever happen to you,” says Shannon.
Anika was put on antibiotics and the couple were told the next 24 hours were crucial for their baby. Anika had developed a form of meningitis caused by Group B Streptococcal (GBS) bacteria. Shannon was a carrier but had known nothing about it.
An estimated 20 to 30% of pregnant women carry the bacteria; however 99% of babies born to these mothers are perfectly healthy. A simple test 35 to 37 weeks into pregnancy can identify if a mother is a carrier, and antibiotics can then prevent the baby developing GBS meningitis. Women in New Zealand are not routinely tested but can opt to have the test done.
Shannon was not given the test or any information about GBS during her pregnancy, but she doesn’t blame anyone.
“Things happen and make you stronger. There is no point in looking back.”
The next few days passed in a blur, with Shannon and Matt constantly at Anika’s bedside. She started having seizures so was transferred to Wellington Hospital, where they put her on life-support equipment. They were told Anika was not going to live.
“She was put into a room of her own so our families could come and say goodbye. My dad came over from Melbourne. It was the first time he had seen his grandchild,” Shannon remembers.
Then the seizures stopped – and Shannon and Matt realised their daughter was a fighter. over the next two weeks, Anika battled on. The high dose of drugs to control the seizures were damaging so they tried to wean her off them but then she would start having seizures again. For the second time, doctors said Anika would not live.
“Anika pushed the respiratory tube out of her lungs and into her stomach. The doctors had to take it out and thought she wouldn’t survive but she started breathing just fine by herself,” Shannon says proudly.
All this time, Anika was unconscious and wasn’t expected to ever wake up. But after two weeks, she did. After six weeks in hospital, Anika was finally able to go home but the couple endured months of sleepless nights and constant medical problems.
Devoted mum Shannon spent her 21st birthday by her baby’s hospital bedside as Anika was having infantile seizures. By this time, Shannon was five months pregnant with her second child. In a strange twist of fate, exactly one year to the day after Anika was born, Shannon gave birth to Isabel. Shannon was given antibiotics for GBS while pregnant so Isabel is completely healthy.
Anika, now two, has continued to develop. She can hold her head up for five minutes, eat by herself and grip things. Shannon and Matt are very appreciative of the support they have received from organisations such as the oeningitis Trust and Conductive Education, who run sessions for children with motor disorders. But the couple don’t focus on their first-born’s disabilities.
“Anika’s beautiful. She’s happy and always smiling,” says Shannon. “Through Anika, I have learned to be grateful for all the good things in life.”
By Jennie Scotcher
