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Kalel FitzPremature British baby named after Superman
Country:
 Great Britain |
Content:
Superman's Tiny Namesake
A premature British baby, measuring just 2.54 centimetres long at birth, has defied medical odds by reaching his second birthday. Born at 23 weeks, Kael was given a 50% chance of survival. Battling for life, he amazed his parents so much that they suspected he had superpowers. Fittingly, the miracle baby was named Kael after Superman from the planet Krypton.
Baby Breath
Approaching his second milestone, Kael was taken off a ventilator, breathing unassisted for the first time. His parents, 37-year-old Kay Latham and 32-year-old Scott Fitz from Wigston, Leicestershire, gave their baby the heroic name after his condition took a turn for the worse. Faced with the choice to switch off his life support, Kay and Scott insisted on giving him a few more days, naming him 'Kael' to acknowledge his fighting spirit.
Doctors and parents were astonished when Kael's health improved dramatically, prompting the removal of the ventilator he had relied on day and night. To the delight of his parents, Kael managed to breathe on his own. "We'd watched the film 'Man of Steel' and hubby Scott was really inspired by the whole superhero thing," says his mother. "When I was pregnant, he kept saying, 'What about the name Kael?' I thought it was a bit weird. I liked the name Taylor. So I said, I don't know, it's a bit out there.
"But after all my son had been through when he was born, I had no doubt that was what he had to be called." Kay continues: "The nurses didn't know how to pronounce it so they just called him 'Superman'. It got to the point where everyone was just calling him Superman until we made it his official name."
A Mother's Journey
Latham, a stay-at-home mother, had a normal first pregnancy, giving birth to a son named Charlie nine years ago. However, she suffered the loss of Charlie's younger brother, Toby, in June 2010, when she went into labour at 22 weeks with a stomach bug. Giving birth to healthy twin daughters, Lotta and Katie, now four, Latham separated from her husband and later met PCSO Scott. As their relationship blossomed, so did the desire for another child. Her waters broke at just 23 weeks, below the legal threshold set by the Abortion Act. Nine days later, in April 2014, their premature baby boy was born by Caesarean section.
Tiny Kael weighed just 676 grams and was taken to the neonatal intensive care unit at Leicester Royal Infirmary, where his parents braced themselves for the worst. Despite being on life support, Kael stopped breathing twice and was repeatedly given steroids to combat collapsed lungs. Medics battled for ten weeks to keep Kael alive, increasing his chances of survival. Near the end of the time frame, his parents were offered a final attempt to remove his ventilator. Having had their son christened, Kay and Scott decided to give Kael two more days before the tube was removed.
To their delight, their son began breathing on his own. He initially required an oxygen mask, but this was not forced air like the ventilator. Gradually, Kael grew stronger and began to put on weight. He spent a further four months in hospital before his parents were finally able to take him home. Doctors warned that he might need an oxygen mask for an extended period, but once again, the miracle baby proved he was more resilient than anyone had predicted. Last month, they tried him without the mask and discovered that Kael was able to breathe unassisted, even at night.
"We can't believe it," said Kay Latham. "We nearly said goodbye to him but he had other ideas. "He lives up to his name every day. He really is our little superhero."
