Baby Bennett beats the odds (OneNewsNow.com)

Baby Bennett beats the odds

Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow - 11/27/2009 2:20:00 AM

Thanksgiving came early for Pittsburgh television anchor Kelly Frey and her husband, Jason, with the arrival of their newborn child whose life expectancy has already been surpassed.

Kelly Frey (WTAE) WTAE anchor Kelly Frey's unborn baby was diagnosed with holoprosencephaly, a severe malformation of the brain which results in death in the womb, or shortly after birth. But against the odds, the baby was born alive, breathing on his own and kicking and screaming for life.

In Frey's interview about the situation, she says, "I was so overwhelmed [that] I was almost scared to touch him at first because I was not in disbelief, but somewhat in disbelief that here is this child that we had lived with the knowledge for all those months that he was going to die, and that here he was bundled up."

Bennett, the baby, has undergone three serious operations since his September 22 birthday. He survived seven weeks of hospitalization and now faces more medical treatment, but has been released to go home with his parents. Frey's doctor, Margaret Pettigrew, comments on the surprises Bennett has constantly provided.

"I think what it says [is] that anything can change at any time," says Pettigrew. "There definitely should be hope and faith that no matter what, because like I said at the very beginning, we are ultimately not in charge of any of this -- and that this is truly a miracle."

Dr. Pettigrew concludes that she and the other doctors simply do not know exactly what the child is going to be able to do, "because he's already done what he shouldn't be doing."