Jess Hardiman
A woman who refused to turn off her son’s life support says her little boy is now thriving, saying she's still 'pinching herself’ over how well he’s doing.
After Nicole Dib, 32, gave birth to little Jibreel at 25 weeks weighing just 1.8lbs, the infant was placed on life support.
Her water had broken after being accidentally kicked in the stomach by another swimmer at a local pool, and was raced to the Royal Hospital for Women in Randwick, New South Wales.
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Doctors did everything they could to delay the labour, but Jibreel – or ‘Jibby’ - was eventually born three days later via emergency c-section.
He spent five long months in the neonatal intensive care unit, during which time doctors had to ask Nicole and husband Youssef five times if they wanted to turn the live support system off.
However, the parents decided to have faith in their son, who amazingly managed to pull through.
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He continues to defy all odds, having hit milestones his family only ever dreamt of achieving – including taking his first steps at the age of two.
In a recent press release from the Cerebral Palsy Alliance, which has helped Jibreel through funding and Early Intervention Therapy, Nicole said: “Seeing Jibreel walk for the first time was the greatest milestone. We did not expect to see Jibreel walk so soon. Even without his walking frame he just let go of it and just started walking, I’m still pinching myself.”
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She added: “The first two years of Early Intervention is very hard but it’s worth it, it’s very important. If we didn’t start then, maybe we would have missed the window for him to be able to walk or to learn or to re-wire his brain.”
Since working with his therapy team, including physiotherapist Elaine, Jibreel has not only learnt to walk, but also to count to 10 and even play the drums.
“Jibby’s had quite a few special moments,” physio Elaine said.
“Him taking his first steps was something we didn’t expect too soon if ever for him to walk independently. So that was a really big blessing.”
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In an interview with the Daily Mail, Nicole said she is sharing their story in the hope of inspiring other parents with babies in a similar situation to never give up hope.
“I feel opening up and sharing our story and giving others hope it's a part of my healing,” she said.
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“Our one wish is to help other families going through the same thing."
The mother has no bad feelings towards the ‘incredible’ doctors, who had to keep asking her tough questions as Jibreel’s treatment continued, saying they always went above and beyond to help him.
She continued: “One night we got a call from the doctor saying Jibby just gave up and he had to resuscitate him but he's here and he's okay. He almost died.
“At that moment I don't even know what planet I was on – it was just one thing after another. I knew that Jibby was in great hands and I'm so grateful to have had (the doctors') help.”