Woman born without brain given only four years to live at birth celebrates 20th birthday

A woman born without a brain in Nebraska celebrated her 20th birthday recently. At birth, the doctors said that she wouldn't live past the age of four, but she defied all odds and proved them wrong. Alex Simpson of Omaha is afflicted by a rare condition known as hydranencephaly. Shawn and Lorena Simpson spoke with local news outlet KETV News about their daughter's medical issue, saying, "[Hydranencephaly] means that her brain is not there." Shawn added, "Technically, she has about half the size of my pinky finger of her cerebellum in the back part of her brain, but that's all that's there." He said that the doctors told them she won't live past the age of four.

Talking about the reason that helped her prove everyone wrong, they said love is what has helped her live so much longer than expected. This is when Alex can't see or hear her parents. Shawn said her eye movements can tell that she is looking for them. “You can see that when I went up there and talked to her a little bit ago, she was looking for me,” he told the outlet.

After the doctors told them about her condition, the parents feared for her. They didn't know what to do, but faith kept them going. “Twenty years ago, we were scared, but faith, I think, is really what kept us alive," he said. “She’s a fighter,” Lorena added. Alex has a 14-year-old brother, SJ, who says he is proud to have a daughter like Alex. “When people ask about my family, the first thing I start with is Alex, my disabled sister,” he said.

He also believes that Alex has a way to know what's going on around her. SJ added that when someone is stressed and no one talks about it around her, she can still sense it. According to the Cleveland Clinic, hydranencephaly occurs in one in 5,000 to one in 10,000 pregnancies, and most of them don't live beyond the first year of their life.