A toddler in Michigan was born with a rare birth defect called omphalocele. Only 1 in every 4,200 babies is born with the condition, which results in organs such as the intestines, the liver, and others attaching to the outside of the belly, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Despite complications, the 2-year-old boy loves to play like other toddlers, his parents say, per Fox 17.
Lawston Everett underwent surgery recently to correct the omphalocele, and he has defied all odds since he was born, despite all the medical complications he has had to endure.
More from CafeMom: First-Time Parents Are Stunned After Twins Are Born Conjoined, Sharing 1 Body & 2 Heads
His parents learned about the rare birth defect during the pregnancy.
When Lawston’s mother, Katie Everett, went in for a routine ultrasound, she was told about the complication with her son.
"They do the ultrasound and the doctor comes back in and she says, 'There's a baby in there', but they told us that he maybe had something called an omphalocele," Everett said, according to Fox 17.
The family has also had to manage the baby's scoliosis.
As a result of being born with omphalocele, Lawston and his parents and physicians have also had to handle and treat scoliosis, a condition where the spine is curved, per Mayo Clinic. Lawston uses braces to help with the curve in his spine along with helping to support the omphalocele.
“It was a year and a half journey to where we are today with making two different braces for him and dropping his curve down almost 30 degrees, holding that omphalocele as he grew and not letting it get any larger," said pediatric orthotist Connie Summers, per Fox 17.
Despite the complications, his mother shared that Lawton’s much like other toddlers.
Though Lawston has had a challenging journey with his health, his mother described him as a “spunky little toddler who loves to play," Fox 17 reported. Lawston has had to learn to communicate with sign language because of using a feeding tube to eat and a ventilator to breathe. In order to allow him to be mobile, Lawston’s parents made him a cart for his ventilator that he or his nurses can pull.
Katie Everett said it can be hard with his ventilator and feeding and breathing tubes. "Sometimes it does break my heart that like that is what people see first. I mean they are so focused on that," she said. "I just want people to see him for who he is — a spunky little toddler who loves to play."
In a Facebook post sharing his one-year ‘trachiversary’ his mother said, “He amazes us every day with his resilience and spunky little attitude. Things may not be easy for him, but he pushes through and finds a way.”
More from CafeMom: 2-Year-Old Wheelchair User With Spina Bifida Makes Millions Smile With Unbreakable Spirit
He is on the road to recovery now.
Following his second birthday, Lawston had an intensive surgery to place his organs back inside his body, a difficult procedure to correct the omphalocele. Doctors at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital and Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Center partnered to manage his omphalocele and scoliosis, per Fox 17.
"He'll always have that scar and I hope that can just be a story that he remembers being told, but that he doesn't quite remember," his mother said of his surgery.
