They called his hand a “Hand of Hope”--- Samuel Alexander Armas was only 21 weeks old in her mother’s womb, when he was diagnosed of having a "Spina Bifida". Spina Bifida affects 1/1000 newborns in the US. It is one of the most horrible birth defects affecting the Neutral Tube. It damages the spinal cord leading to paralysis. To correct this problem, surgery is generally performed after 24 hours of birth. However in this case Samuel' case is very much different.
Samuel was operated while inside her mother’s womb. This medical technology (Utero Surgery) is pretty much in its baby stage. It was newly introduces in 1999 and few sugeries were done but there is not much statistics to prove its success rate. This fetal surgery was performed by a team of surgeons from Vanderbilt University in Nashville and Samuel was the 54th patient. It involves removing the uterus, draining out the fluid from amniotic sac then a surgery is performed at the fetus’s spine. After that the uterus is then restored back to the mother’s womb. To do or not to do a Utero surgery is a bid challenge for the parents of Samuel and it is huge decision to do. They have to chances if they want to alleviate their baby’s spinal defects.
Samuel’s case is for heaven’s sake the most unbelievable story I have heard in my entire life. How can you imagine a mother and her fetus who were under the general anesthesia (can’t move and feel anything) while a fetus (Samuel) reaches out his tiny fingers, clinched the operating doctor’s finger as if he is holding it firmly. The picture is real and it was taken by famous photographer, Michael Clancy. USA today was invited to be present at the operating room for the coverage of the entire procedure and until the unexpected unimaginable thing happened---------The tiny fetus hand is reaching out from the uterus hole and he does not seem to have nay idea what is out there but he is sending a message that—there is life inside the womb that wants to live. This story was published in the Tennessean Newspaper's Website, USA Today and other popular newspapers in the US. The photo can be viewed at www.michaelclancy.com.
This phenomenon is sending a message to people who are promoters of “Abortion”. If the fetus can say something it could be one of these things...” please don’t kill me” or “ I want to live”. How can you explain the miracle that happened? The fetus moved his fingers while on general anesthesia. Is it in God’s divine intervention through Samuel that God wants to end abortion? Abortion in any aspect is an inhuman and a sinful act. It does not matter how old the fetus is inside your womb, once conceived they deserve to live.
After 2 December 1999 and after 6 years of living a miraculous life, Samuel is very much active and enjoys normal life with other boy’s of his age. The pictures are true and not edited by any powerful photo software. As matter of fact the parents of Samuel, the photographer and the doctor’s who performed the operation testified before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space about the photo and their experience with in Utero Surgery procedure.
