A mom from Houston, Texas, is finally able to kiss her baby boy, 10 months after the infant was born with a rare disorder that left him without skin on parts of his body. Little Ja'bari Gray has been recuperating at Texas Children's Hospital since his birth in January, but a recent skin transplant has finally allowed his mother Priscilla Maldonado to give her son his first cuddle.
Ja'bari was born on New Year's Day with skin missing from most of his body. During his time in the NICU, several of his body parts fused together.
The Daily Mail reported that the baby's eyelids were fused together. When he was delivered at Methodist Children's Hospital in San Antonio — at just 3 pounds — he was quickly placed on life support.
"He literally from the neck down, from the front and back nothing, there was no skin and even parts of his legs, he had no skin," his mother told KTRK. She added that she had no signs before her son was born that there were any complications with her pregnancy, so the news came as a shock.
It wasn't until Maldonado went in for an ultrasound at 37 weeks that doctors suspected anything was amiss. The scan showed that Ja'bari wasn't gaining any weight, and shortly after, his heart rate dropped, which caused her doctors to perform an emergency C-section.
The boy spent his first three months in the NICU, where doctors gently warned the parents to expect the worst. But the Maldonados refused to give up.
"If it wasn't his purpose to be here, he would have been gone from birth or even before birth, so he does have a purpose in this world and we never know what it is until the future," his mom said.
Instead of giving up hope, his parents fought to have Ja'bari moved to Texas Children's Hospital, where a skin transplant may have saved his life.
At Texas Children's Hospital, doctors performed an extensive skin graft on Ja'bari after working with a lab in Boston that specializes in burn victims. There, they grew Ja'bari new skin made from cells removed from the back of his ear, which was then used all over his body.
Although risky, the skin graft was ultimately a success — not to mention record-breaking.
"That was the first transplant ever that's been done in his situation and on a baby his age," his mom explained to KTRK.
So far, the transplant has helped Ja'bari to thrive and now -- after waiting an agonizing nine months -- his mother has finally been able to hold him.
"It was heartwarming, because he was crying when he was laying down, but as soon as I picked him up and had the skin-to-skin contact and put him on my chest, he just stopped crying," Maldonado told KTRK.
Her son went from weighing just 3 pounds at birth to a now healthy 18 pounds, according to the Daily Mail. He has also been taken off his pain medication and can finally breathe on his own.
"Now you can kiss him, touch him, do all that stuff," his mom told KTRK. "He got to wear his first set of clothes now, so he's getting there."
Despite his progress, doctors are still baffled by what caused the baby to be born without skin in the first place.
At first, they suspected epidermolysis bullosa, a rare skin condition that causes fragile skin that blisters. But after Maldonado and her husband, Marvin Gray, underwent genetic testing, it was discovered they were not carriers of the disorder, People reported.
Whatever the case, Ja'bari's progress has been incredible, but he's not out of the woods yet, and still has more treatment to undergo in the future. Surgery to open his eyelids, which were fused together, has already failed twice, and doctors have warned his parents that they are reluctant to “mess with his eyes anymore.” However, they still plan to continue surgery to separate his arms, right hand, foot, and neck.
So far, his mother has been thrilled with his progress and considers her son's story a miracle.
"[He's been] making coo sounds that normal babies would do, [and] he’s interacting with us,” she told People. “Even though he can’t see us and stuff, he’s still interacting.”
His family is also grateful for the outpouring of support they've received from family, friends, and even strangers. A GoFundMe campaign was started for Ja'bari's medical expenses earlier this year, but it has since been closed after raising more than $99,000 to put toward his treatment.
“God is so good, we went from doctors giving up on him in San Antonio to him about to come home,” Maldonado wrote on the campaign page. “I wanna thank y’all all for y’all’s prayers and support and for never giving up on him.”
