Physical Wellness

Baby With No Skull Survives Odds: 'Miracle Baby' Heals With Brain Outside His Skull

By Megha Kedia | Update Date: May 25, 2016 06:00 AM EDT

For Ben and Alyssa Riedhead, a couple from Salt Lake City, Utah, it was not less than a miracle when they found that their new born baby has survived all the odds.

It was when Ben and his pregnant wife Alyssa Riedhead went to the doctor to find out the sex of their unborn baby, that they received the news that, at 23 weeks, their unborn son was suffering from encephalocele. It's a rare condition where the bones of the skull don't completely close and the brain starts developing outside the skull.

"We were going in for one of the happiest times of our lives and come out walking like we just heard the worst news we could've ever heard," Ben Reidhead told Fox 13 Now.

Doctors had told the couple that the survival chances of their unborn baby was very less.

"They just kept saying, 'Oh, he'll be born but he'll only live for a couple minutes. Or if you go through labor, he'll probably pass away during labor,'" Alyssa Reidhead said, reported CNN.

In fact, instead of buying clothes, Ben and Alyssa Riedhead bought a casket for their baby.

"We picked out a casket and we picked out what we were going to do," Alyssa said.

The couple said they were scared of their baby's arrival not because they didn't want him to come but because they were afraid of losing him.

Fortunately, everything changed last week when Alyssa delivered the baby by C-section at Primary Children's Hospital. To the Reidheads' surprise, the new born baby arrived alive and kicking and defying all the odds. The couple has named their miracle baby Will.

"He's not hooked up to anything," Alyssa said. "He's breathing fine. He's lifting his head. He's moving around. He's pretty much acting like a completely normal baby."

Will has been diagnosed with a rare disease called cutis aplasia- a condition marked by the absence of the back of his skull. The baby's brain is only covered by a thin layer of membrane.

Will's family members have started a GoFund me account to raise money for his medical costs. Anyone willing to help the Reidhead family can visit their Go Fund Me page here.

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