Thats amazing in 1997 my daughter wad born without a brain only thr brainstem she made it to her six birthday. Keep praying i wish youall the best

lies

 I am curious about this condition. How can he eat, breathe, how can he do anything without a brain? Does he even know he’s alive? I guess no one will ever know for sure, but I am a curious person and I just can’t understand how he is alive.  From what I read the most primitive part of the brain is at the base of the skull – the critical stuff  – heart beat, breathing… So he must have at least part of a brain, or else his heart wouldn’t know to beat.  Can’t stem cell therapy allow him to grow a brain? Give him what god forgot to give him?

It has a brain stem which controls heart beat, breathing, etc. It just keeps you alive. Since it doesn’t have a brain, it can’t feel, love and doesn’t have emotion. It’s basically a warm corpse.

Keeping this child alive is just cruel.

ew

this kid is disgusting.. put him out of his misery.. look at the child. DISGUSTING!!!!!!!!

He is a little boy not an it!!!!

This is really terrible.  His heart beats and he breathes, but there’s nothing there.  “He” is not there.  There would be no personality, no emotions, no thoughts.  What a frightening limbo this poor child exists in – being technically alive but not truly living.  Those selfish parents.

This thing is quite clearly an it. Keeping it alive is cruelty in its highest form.
If a person does not know they are alive, are they really alive?
If the kid had a brain but was unable to control its body then that would be different but this thing is a body with no1 in it.

I can’t feel bad for this thing that can’t even feel bad for itself. It’s not suffering. The babies that are born with horrible skin diseases which cause the skin to fall off, or babies born with other terrible conditions are the babies I feel bad for. Those are the babies that are truly suffering. I’m disgusted that this “baby” without a brain is being kept alive. Like I said, it’s basically a warm corpse.

@Ross, Exactly.

I was under the impression that Christians think God is perfect? If he was perfect then the kid would have a brain because god wouldn’t forget a thing. This is just a random genetic mistake, the kid isn’t alive. There is no God butif there is, he is a seriously cruel entity creating a thing like this

 thats not true, nicolas is the oldest child to survive this awful condition, there is no known record of a child reaching there 6th birthday !!!

wow, many of you posters are heartless. Science doesn’t know everything. People used to think that brains were nothing (remember the Egyptians?). We think we know everything today. The boy is living and breathing and in more recent interviews, the mother tells how he responds to touch. I’m sure that he is a “real” boy. It’s obvious. I feel sorry for the ignorant people who can’t see that.

Clearly, you missed the part about the mother saying he was her angel and that he was here for a reason. The boy is in no obvious pain. The boy is clearly alive. You miss the point because God didn’t forget the brain. It was missing on purpose. God has a purpose for everything. Sometimes that purpose is to prove to proud people that they really don’t know everything, that science doesn’t know everything. This boy proves that what we thought (ie brain is necessary for life) isn’t necessarily the whole truth. I know the world must seem cruel to you, but there is a purpose in everything. Read “Many Infallible Proofs” if you dare
:)

“the mother tells how he responds to touch.” There are plants that respond to touch, too. That doesn’t mean there’s a soul inside of him.

Can’t believe someone would call a baby an it… He is living breathing and he makes his mother very happy every moment she is able to have him in her life. † God bless that mother for realizing what a blessing this baby boy is… †

And how would you suggest that this child die??? God is keeping this baby boy alive for a reason…We don’t ask Him why…We just obey Him.

And how would you suggest this child die????

God is keeping this baby boy alive for a reason…We don’t ask Him why…We just obey Him

As an organ donor.

That’s just screwed up. “He’s my angel” ? That’s no angel, it’s a bloody cabbage patch doll made of flesh. As cruel as it may be, this is a definite case for euthenasia..

God must be one sick bastard if he does that to a kid. He can’t experience ANYTHING in life apart from darkness and silence, and who knows if he even realises it? And you’re talking out your ass. We know the brain isn’t fully necessary for life. There’s plenty of “brain-dead” people still “alive” in hospitals around the world. Take your misguided beliefs elsewhere.

Looks more like a curse to me, rather than a blessing. A chlid who’ll never say “I love you mum/dad”. Who’ll never see the beauty of the world, never hear the music of life. You’d be better off with a mannikin.

Exactly kelly. Quite a few plants respond to touch and other stimuli. And that’s all he is, a vegetable.

How is it cruel? The child is not suffering. He’s not even conscious. He has a brain stem and presumably part of a cerebellum, which means he can respond to stimuli with reflex actions; he can probably respond to his mother picking him up, for example. A short lifetime of dreamless sleep is not cruelty. His family loves him. That he’s treasured is a sign to all of us of the unspoken pledge we’ve all taken: “When you’re hurt; when you’re sick; when you’re unable to do for me what you usually do, I’ll still value you; I’ll still take care of you; you’ll still have a place in our world.” There are far worse things than that.

Yes, your instincts are correct. Technically, he *does* have part of his brain. The brain stem is roughly equivalent to all of a lizard or snake’s brain. The brain stem regulates breathing, heartbeat, body temperature, reflexes, among other things. A few things are even lower down in the nervous system–some reflexes start in the spinal cord. Nicholas survived so long because he was very lucky in two ways: His brain stem is supporting his vital functions adequately, and unlike most anencephalic infants, his skull was closed at birth, protecting him from infection. As for stem cell therapy, that is not yet advanced enough to allow us to grow entire organs like that. Someday, maybe; but not yet.

The average person doesn’t have self-awareness until about 18 months of age, actually. That’s the age at which you can pass the mirror test (which, for that matter, can also be passed by great apes and elephants, and possibly some marine mammals). So if you want to be consistent, you should also say that infants younger than 18 months, or anyone who does not have self-awareness due to a disability, is also not a person.

I ask again: Why is it cruelty to keep a child alive when the child is not suffering, is not even conscious? I think you’re just making excuses for your own discomfort at the idea that someone can live without a brain. You’re creeped out or disgusted and you want to legitimize it.

Well, perhaps you should try to start thinking a bit for yourself instead of just obeying “Him” and trusting “Him”.

There is no God. What’s keeping this child alive is a concoxion of medicines, not some higher purpose. The reason he is alive when no children without brain stem have survived for as long as he has has probably got a lot more to do with the advances in medicine than it has to do with some God.

don’t judge, this is a precious life which as much right to be here as the rest of us, they are giving him tender loving care and looking after him until he passes away, a selfish parent would have dumped him in a home and left him there.

don’t judge, this is a precious life which as much right to be here as the rest of us, they are giving him tender loving care and looking after him until he passes away, a selfish parent would have dumped him in a home and left him there.

a little boy not an it. A sick little boy but as human as you are and he has a soul so don’t call him an it.

a little boy not an it. A sick little boy but as human as you are and he has a soul so don’t call him an it.

how can anyone call the child an it or a thing, what a wicked thing to say, my mum had a friend who had a child with this condition, she chose to have a termination but still regarded the child as one of her children and was heart broken to have to make the choice to terminate, the baby was still a person, and she still grieved even though she felt abortion was the only thing she could do. If one of here got brain damage in an ccident and was on a life support then we would not be an it, still he or she, the question here is it right to pro long a life in this case? not to rip the child of its humanity for the child is not a thing. Whether grieveing for a foetus aborted for this illness or a 58 year old brain damaged in a car crash they are are still human.

the child has a gender, you don’t call it a thing because the brain is incomplete, an anancephalic child is still a child, the child will be in no pain at least and the parents are doing what they can to give the child TLC before he passes over, he will still have a soul. Have some respect.

for god’s sake it’s not the baby’s fault, no deformed baby is a curse, it’s nature gone wrong, nothing to do with God or curses or any of that out of the ark notion, sometimes nature goes wrong, normally a miscarriage would occur but sometimes not and in this case a living being has a right dignity, even if they are terribly deformed or sick or damaged, the best thing to do in these cases is to allow nature to take its course and make the passing easy as possible and then the parents can grieve and bury their child.

what a wicked thing to say, he is actually very beautiful, the child should be aloud to pass with dignity like any other person.

you talk rubbish and sound disgusting your self, he is beautiful just damaged, don’t show repulsion show compassion.The child is not disgusting people like you are, for showing such an appalling attitude, the sick and dying however ill or disabled have to have dignity and respect. would you like if you got dementia and became a living “cabbage” and got called disgusting? no. hopefully you’d have a right to choose to end your life but if you were lying in a care home with dementia ( which ANYONE can get) and the nurses called you it or disgusting, terrible attitude, you’d want your last days treated with care and respect.

what grants a person a soul Kelly? what gives you the right to say he has no soul? I have nursed people with dementia and brain damage from car accidents who are all but living corpses, have they then lost their souls? no in days gone by nature would take its course and they would get a sickness and die but modern medicine keeps these poor souls, poor human beings alive, what should be done is to let them die with dignity, but person hood is not a thing granted to a human because of their ability. If you get Dementia would you like people to say you have no soul? Those that seem to have no soul are those who are saying such wicked things.

people like you are sick, the child has a soul, the brain my be not there or incomplete but the soul is different to the physical. I cannot believe you can have no compassion to an innocent child.

I am not a religious person but am spiritual, this child has a right to be here as much as anyone else, he needs compassion and dignity and so does the family. They must be left alone, to care for the baby until nature takes its course, most babies with such deformities and damage are miscarried but some will slip through the net and a caring society does not show them off as freaks or judge the mother who looks like a teenage girl, show compassion for the child and the family not repulsion. A lot of women would have had an abortion but if anyone supports a woman’s choice regarding abortion surely this means supporting her choice is she chooses not to terminate for whatever reasons which are hers alone. All life has a purpose, and any of us at any time of our life could be rendered so brain damaged we might become living dead, the latter stages of Dementia and road trafic accidents and severe strokes, what matters in a decent society is to treat the dying with respect, to not pro long a suffering life or very damaged life and to make their passing easy and gentle and dignified for is that not what we all would want for ourselves and those we love, A damaged or very sick pet we might put to sleep but we are not going to be outraged at the pet’s exsistance and call it a freak etc. For the love of god or whatever is up there treat the family with respect and feel sad for the little boy, not disgusted, he, like all of us has a soul.

He is not “just” damanged. He has no personality or a sense of who he is. This is basically a living corpse. He breathes because the brain STEM is responsible for survival functions like heartbeat, breathing, reflexes, etc. If I was born with no brain, I wouldn’t be aware about anything. He isn’t aware of his unfortunate condition. He isn’t suffering. He’s just…”there.” If I got dementia I’d want to be dead. That is a horrible disease and I truly feel compassion and sympathy for people with Alzheimer’s.

I’m not saying this living thing should be dead; I just don’t see how it’s a miracle. This is a mistake of nature. It would be important for this kid to be studied so that we can learn how to avoid this sort of thing in the future.

This baby is not terribly deformed or sick or damaged like the Harlequin babies. Now that I feel sympathy and compassion for.

This is a child, he may never ‘think or be conscious’ but he is a child. He is not in pain, he has loving parents who will care for as long he lives.
As for God, well, we can say God as made Everything on Earth, that there is nothing upon this earth that He has not made, that all scientific and medically discoveries are because of him. And since he has created all, and We all have a Reason to be, and We all have his Love no matter what…then I must say he made us Black, White, Asian, East Indian, Native American Indian, South American. He has made us Buddhist, Muslim, Christian, Jewish. He has made Us Gay, Straight, Bisexual, Transgendered. He has made Us many things. And for This we Should All be Thankful for, and Not Divided About.

No baby daddy, 2 OTHER kids but plenty of money to tattoo herself up real nice. Whore.

Yeah, tell a mother who and what her own child is, ignoramus.

THAT is a wonderful idea. His unfortunate lack of a livable life can give another child the chance he never got. Well said Gretchen.

You can’t ask those who believe otherwise or not at all in a master creator to live by your rules.

Agreed, except I do believe in God and his gift to chose for yourself.

He breathes on his own he is not on a breathing machine. He is alive so how the hell are those parents selfish wtf are they supposed to do kill him? No let him LIVE as long as GOD decides. Who the hell are you to judge. It is not like the are using machines to keep his heart beating it does that on its own you IGNORANT BITCH

He is not a corpse. A corpse is a dead person he is alive

You’re bringing God into this, so I assume you’re a Christian. I don’t think calling someone with a dissenting opinion an “ignorant bitch” is exactly Christ-like.

You cannot prove that this “baby” has a soul.

This “baby” does not need compassion. It doesn’t have FEELINGS, so it cannot benefit from compassion or sympathy.

He is not sick.

Well no shit, but I didn’t mean literally.

Wow, there are some very rude people on here. The child can not see, hear,move,and possibly feel anthing. Without knowing the whole story, I would say that if the family have used measures to keep this boy alive instead of letting nature (life and death processes) take their course then I agree with the other posts that its just selfish. I understand he is loved,but he doesn’t know that and his life that it is shouldn’t be artificially made to keep going if it is.

You are really rude. There is no reason to talk like that to make a point. You don’t need to use curse words and call people names. Your just very rude.

I just saw this story, and just read your comments, and for you to say that the brain was missing on purpose by “God” is just plain cruel and stupid.. half of the ppl on this message board states that “there is a reason” why this baby to be alive.. what to “appreciate life??” So why doesn’t this selfish parent just put the baby out of its misery and tell the story.. make it known instead of keeping the circus act going. At this point right now the family is looking for sympathy and recognition, and that “I don’t care what ppl think” attitude is for the birds.. she did this for “attention”. Baby Nicholas is her puppet, and she has put him on display for the world to see. Have you ever heard the saying “Some of the worst things imaginable have been done with the best intentions”, that is this situation.. bottom line.. this is not an act of “God” if there is one.

I just saw this story, and just read the comments of most of the viewers of this story, and the comment that the “brain was missing on purpose by “God”" is just plain cruel and stupid!! Half of the ppl on this message board state that “there is a reason” why this baby is alive.. what? to “appreciate life??” So why doesn’t this selfish parent just put the baby out of its misery and tell the story.. make it known instead of keeping the circus act going. At this point right now the family is looking for sympathy and recognition, and that “I don’t care what ppl think” attitude is for the birds.. she did this for “attention”. Baby Nicholas is her puppet, and she has put him on display for the world to see. Have you ever heard the saying “Some of the worst things imaginable have been done with the best intentions”, that may be this situation, or it may be that the family is looking for something more.. like “money, 15min of fame, etc” this is not an act of “God” if there is one. The doctors are able to run test to check for birth defects during pregnancy, and they are able to view the defect accurately in the third trimester.. which allows the “mother” the option to terminate the baby.. this sick “woman (rather call her something else)” decided to keep the baby alive for selfish reasons alone. Being a mother of 3.. there is no way I would do that to a human being, or put any of my children on display in public like a circus act. I can understand if there is some sort of chance of recovery, or if Baby Nicholas will ever live a normal life or even have an inkling of life or feeling, but he never will.. ever. This is just “wrong” bottom line.

I just saw this story, and just read the comments of most of the viewers of this story, and the comment that the “brain was missing on purpose by “God”" is just plain cruel and stupid!! Half of the ppl on this message board state that “there is a reason” why this baby is alive.. what? to “appreciate life??” So why doesn’t this selfish parent just put the baby out of its misery and tell the story.. make it known instead of keeping the circus act going. At this point right now the family is looking for sympathy and recognition, and that “I don’t care what ppl think” attitude is for the birds.. she did this for “attention”. Baby Nicholas is her puppet, and she has put him on display for the world to see. Have you ever heard the saying “Some of the worst things imaginable have been done with the best intentions”, that may be this situation, or it may be that the family is looking for something more.. like “money, 15min of fame, etc” this is not an act of “God” if there is one. The doctors are able to run test to check for birth defects during pregnancy, and they are able to view the defect accurately in the third trimester.. which allows the “mother” the option to terminate the baby.. this sick “woman (rather call her something else)” decided to keep the baby alive for selfish reasons alone. Being a mother of 3.. there is no way I would do that to a human being, or put any of my children on display in public like a circus act. I can understand if there is some sort of chance of recovery, or if Baby Nicholas will ever live a normal life or even have an inkling of life or feeling, but he never will.. ever. This is just “wrong” bottom line.

@kelly and deabea.. haven’t you heard, most so called Christians have a double standard.. what is it call “work in progress”..

yea, sorry to to dout the story, but if you were like the other “sick attention needed ppl that allowed the baby to live w/o a brain” it would be on record like all the rest of the poor children put on display..

nobody chooses what they believe. you’re either convinced that something is true or you’re not, there’s no choice in the matter.

“We know the brain isn’t fully necessary for life. There’s plenty of “brain-dead” people still “alive” in hospitals around the world.”

the brain stem is absolutely necessary for life, it’s the only part of the brain which if destroyed absolutely guarantees death. also the people who’re brain dead but on life support aren’t alive at all, because brain death is not reversible at all, unlike clinical death which is when the heart stops but the brain survives for a certain amount of time afterwards.

the problem i see in the world today are people who can’t use their brains by themselves and rely on tv or some guy in a dress holding a book full of nonsense in order to form their opinions. that’s a waste of a brain.

“God is keeping this baby boy alive for a reason…”

kindly take your religious nonsense and fuck off.
yours sincerely, everyone in the medical profession.

Um…you’re mean. Shut up.
Personally, I’m against killing anything at all for no good reason, and that falls under the “no good reason” rank, but…..wow. Poor kid. There’s nothing to him.
No seriously, shut up. If anyone’s an ignorant biatch (I’m being gracious here by adding the “a”) it’s you. And you a parent? Come on.

MY GAWD, YOU PEOPLE, there is freaking nothing to him and that’s that. He functions, that’s it. That is a FACT, there is NOTHING AT AWL you can do to change it, and while everyone feels sorry for him and wishes that stuff like this never happens, it is TRUE and YOU CAN’T DENY IT. OKAY??? SO everyone quit calling him “it” and cussing out other people for doing that because it’s not helping ANYONE, it’s USELESS.
And please don’t talk about how there’s no use for him to live. Everyone is born the way they are for a reason. Shut up and THINK.
Gosh, you people are so rude.

What is with the anti God people these days? Rude as I don’t know what…..
Then again, we haven’t been too nice to the atheists either.
Oh, I suppose I sound shallow because this isn’t much of a reply. Sorry, sorry. Carry on and such.

Mmmmm…..shut up.

There’s a such thing as being too godly. Please stop mixing in your nonsense with Christianity, read the word of God AGAIN (if you ever did before), then come back and edit this comment.
Thanks.

Let’s not be stupid, now.
He has a soul. Everyone needs a soul to live. It’s just no use to his body.

Okay, the shocking thing here? Apparently, you are all “parents”.
Wonder what your kids would think…

Doesn’t matter if you’d want that or not, you’d never know it and you really wouldn’t care if you did.
That’s my take on it anyway.

God’s got a reason.
I know it sounds absurd, and in a couple years it’ll probably sound that way to me to, but He has a reason. Always does.
Just sit back, shut up, and let him do whatever the heck he wants to.

He didn’t suggest that he should die! You’re saying everything that shouldn’t be said!

Who said anything about being ‘anti god’? More like ‘anti bullshit’. It’s not my fault if what you believe is complete nonsense backed up by absolutely nothing but you believe it anyway because the book it was written in (and edited a multitude of times) os **old** and the people who fed it to you were **old** and you saw them as authority figures at the time.

Question your beliefs and recognise them for how ludicrous they are. They’re all bullshit designed to keep you in line, do you want to be a brainless sheep?

I’m not trying to be nasty here, but what you say about how theists have treated atheists is nothing short of understatement of the past 4 millennia. Get a fucking grip. If you think of yourself as a good person who cares about the truth, go and look for it, and recognise that you’ve been lied to by those who would enslave your mind to serve their own purpose, and that purpose is not what you might think.

That you think a soul is a real thing and not just a metaphor created to make conscious thought more tangible – now that’s stupid. “Everyone needs a soul to live.” Hahaha, oh my god.

“Everyone needs a soul to live.”

Provide evidence that such a thing even exists in the first place. While you’re at it, define it.

Fifty bucks says you fuck tramps for candy.

Wow, some of you are just disgusting. You don’t know anything about his condition and your saying he should die. I have seen babies that were born with anencephaly and survived for months with less of their head than this boy.
I am frankly really glad that they love him so much and are enjoying his life as long as they have it.
It’s more than you “Kill it” chanting people would ever do. You call them selfish but they are giving that boy love and care when you losers would toss him in a dumpster to remain “unburdened”

Actually, the longest lived child to have anencephaly that I heard about made it to 12 years old.
There was a little girl named Jimena in Mexico city, Mexico who in 2008 was six years old when her story was submitted, I don’t know if she lived longer or if she died at that age.

Rose, I think you are sick. Sick right down to your being. His family loves him and FRANKLY you don’t really seem to know all that much about anencephaly and the varying parts of the brain they can still have, depending on the degree.
I don’t feel sorry for that boy because he is loved, I feel sorry for YOU, I’m sad to see you’re a parent and can still refer to anothers child as an it and a corpse and a thing and continually state your ever so selfish opinion that he should die, just because YOU personally are made uncomfortable by his existance.

So why do you say that I don’t know all the different parts of the brain? Is it not true that this boy has the brain stem? The brain stem is responsible for survivor functions, but it is not responsible for THOUGHTS and FEELINGS. Why not call it an “it?” We call animals “it,” and we are not much better than animals (my opinion). So what makes this baby superior to, let’s say, a cat or a dog? Animals at least have FEELINGS, so I would say that an animal is more superior. You are a hypocrite because you’re caling me selfish for having a differnet opinion, when you resorted to insulting me. I don’t really think that it would die, but I don’t consider it’s state that much different than death. The only difference is that it’s alive.
I’m not a parent. I don’t have children and never have had children. I have my reasons for calling this “thing” an it, and it doesn’t make me a bad person or cruel, because I’m one actually am a very caring person. You know nothing about me.
I think that this “baby” should be studied in a lab so that we can learn more about this situation. It would be beneficial if we knew more about this, and perhaps we can even stop this from happening in the future.

It is not the same thing, and it’s unfair to compare them. The difference is that humans with brain damage LOST important functions of their brain, but they had them to begin with. In Nicolas’s case, he wasn’t born with them. There was never anything there in his body, unlike people who have been in car accidents or other accidents that have given them brain damage.

Babies before 18 months of age may not be self-aware, but they can feel emotions like fear, comfort, etc.

This brainless baby is not benefitting from the TLC because it doesn’t have a brain. A brain is what enables you to feel other people’s compassion. So it doesn’t really matter what happens to him. The only reason to be considerate about this thing is for the parents’ and family’s sake.

Please leave God and religion out of this.

But since you’re using him, how do you know that God didn’t put him here with that “condition” to be an organ donor, and give another person a chance at life? To actually benefit from this thing’s unfortunate case?

Tell me why a baby without a brain is a blessing. What the hell is it blessed with? Life? Well it doesn’t even know its alive and doesn’t get to enjoy the pleasures in life, and not even the unpleasant things in life. He can’t experience love, rejection, fear, sadness, excitement, contentment, etc. The beauty and ugliness of this world cannot leave an impact on this baby.

Do not compare this baby with deformed babies. Other deformed babies can feel the anguish that comes with their conditions, but this baby cannot. It doesn’t have a brain so it cannot suffer. But I do agree in letting nature pass its course.

It’s impossible to know whether a soul exists or not, so talk about your beliefs elsewhere.

My grandma has alzheimer’s disease. I still love her, but I miss the way she used to be. “She” is not there anymore. She has changed so much. I really hope physician-assisted suicide is legal by the time I’m old incase I get alzheimer’s. That disease is hell.

He is on 8 different medications to be kept alive, so how is that letting being true to “God’s plan?”

He is on 8 different medications to be kept alive, so how is that letting being true to “God’s plan?” It is not God keeping him alive; it’s the medications.

You people are something. The child can hear….hearing is one of the most primitive things we have. It is the last thing we lose before we die. He can hear. He has what would be called “cortical blindness” meaning, his eyes “see” but his brain cannot translate what he is seeing. These kids do respond. They coo, they can kick their legs, move their arms. They can even tell when one person is holding them over another. Will they grow up and “contribute to society”? No. They will die. Some parents do choose to allow these children to be organ donors after birth (since most will die within moments or hours of birth). Others choose to take them home and love them. I adopted a child with only a brain stem. He cried when stuck with a needle for a blood draw…he felt pain. He cooed. He sucked a pacifier. He lived until he was 3 years old and died from pneumonia (I chose not to intervene to prolong his life). I only loved him while he was here. I don’t think too many people realize how primitive we, as humans, are. Pain, crying, being comforted by being held, hearing, eating, swallowing, digesting, etc….are all primitive reflexes. We assume they are what makes us human. It that is the case, this child is every bit as “human” as the folks saying he is a “corpse.” Educated yourselves before making an absolute idiot of yourself.

He’s technically a human, and plants have instinct too. That’s all I’m going to say because this subject is too personal for you.

Did you get enough of the attention you so desire, yet?

If you look at the video from when he turned 2, it appeared that he was responding to his mother stroking his forehead. I noticed a difference in his eye movements when she was touching his forehead as opposed to when she was not. That to me indicates that he is some sort of sentient being. Perhaps not to the extent that you personally would classify a human being, but there is something there.
And in the post today, when he died, the reports said he was playing with pumpkins. If there were no feelings, no emotions, nothing, would he be able to play?
At least now hopefully everyone will be able to be at peace….whether we believed he was a human being or just a “warm corpse” as you put it. We are all entitled to our opinions and those differing opinions are what makes the world interesting.

I personally know of someone who had these tests done, they showed her baby as being like this child. She chose to go through with the pregnancy, and the child was born normal and is to this day. Mistakes can be made, doctors are not infallible.

Thank you so much for your experience. You have given us a “bird’s eye” look into what these parents and many others (Including yourself) have gone through. Perhaps this can all be laid to rest along with this little boy who brought so much to the family just by being born. Joy, sorrow, patience, gentleness….so much to be learned from their experience.

I agree that mistakes can be made, and know for a fact that half the physicians are quacks, ran into a few myself.. but this lady has let this baby go on for more then 2 yrs, and there is never going to be a recover or a normal life, and knew this when the baby was born. What happened with you friend is awsome, and congrats to her.. but this lady just wants fame and attention, however it comes (let the work see me and my circus baby).

Calling someone with a dissenting opinion an “ignorant bitch”?
Typical religious hypocrisy. You claim to follow a peaceful religion and yet your actions show you’re full of hatred. You are what is wrong with the world. Let me guess, you think you have better morals than athiests too?

Wasting medications that could be going to people who need it. These parents better be donating their child’s organs.

But she believes in GOD, so she can be a horrible person and still go to “Heaven”. Just unbelieveable.

But she believes in GOD, so she can be a horrible person and still go to “Heaven”. Just unbelieveable.

Go take a look at GOD loving Tiffany’s post. God loving people are just as bad as Atheists, but religious people typically have huge ego’s and are blind to that.

Your reply just shows your complete and utter ignorance of this situation. This child is simply a shell for the organs inside, nothing more. People with dementia can feel and have awareness, albeit not likely on the same level as a normal human. The child has no awareness, nothing at all. This isn’t just a disabled child and you, for some reason, cannot grasp that fact.

Responding to a stimulus is different from feeling the stimulus with conscious thought. The baby reacting to a needle is the same as a venus flytrap reacting to a bug hitting its trigger hairs and snapping shut. Tell me, was that plant “feeling” the bug like you would feel it as a conscious human being? In much the same way, maybe the child could “hear” sound vibrating in its eardrum but it had no way to process the sound so its meaningless. Educate yourself before making an absolute idiot of yourself, vjh.

Ali is just extremely ignorant and extremely stubborn; not a good mix. She can’t comprehend the difference between a shell with no awareness and a disabled person with awareness.

can you bury a dead rock with “dignity” too?

can you bury a dead rock with “dignity” too?

It responds to touch like a venus flytrap responds to touch.

It responds to touch like a venus flytrap responds to touch.

prove to me this child has a soul and a plant doesn’t. At that point I will agree with you.

prove to me this child has a soul and a plant doesn’t. At that point I will agree with you.

I can’t believe some of these people are educated, Rab. Humans “need a soul to live”. Wow, just wow.

I can’t believe some of these people are educated, Rab. Humans “need a soul to live”. Wow, just wow.

What gives you the right to say the child has a soul. The right to free speech. You saying the child has a soul is no more correct than someone saying it doesn’t.

Sorry about your grandma, Rose. My grandfather passed away from dementia, so I know your pain.

the love and care is meaningless to this unaware shell. And actually we DO know about the child’s condition. iI’s in the story, maybe you should read it.

Not necessarily true. You can be equally convinced and choose what side to believe.

How could someone vote down the parents donating its organs to save another child?

Unfortunately, you probably didn’t choose to be brainwashed by your parents as a child and now blindly accept anything your religion tells you. I’m sorry that happened to you, but maybe one day you won’t be afraid to think for yourself.

Way to add absolutely nothing to the conversation, John. Did you get the attention YOU were looking for?

You shouldn’t go around telling everyone you disagree with to “shut up”. I’m pretty sure that hateful attitude will get you a first class ticket to the Hell you believe in.

There you go with telling people you disagree with to shut up. Not exactly the best way to avoid your Hell now is it?

There you go with telling people you disagree with to shut up. Not exactly the best way to avoid your Hell now is it?

horse shit.
you can’t be convinced that a deity exists AND hold the opposite position.

“how do you know that God didn’t put him here with that “condition” to be an organ donor, and give another person a chance at life? To actually benefit from this thing’s unfortunate case?”

nobody is claiming to *KNOW* this and so nobody has the burden to prove it either way.

are you claiming that this is the case? if you are then the burden of proof lies with you. if you’re not and you think your imaginary fairy put the kid here just because, then what does that say about ‘him’?

“† God bless that mother for realizing what a blessing this baby boy is… †”

describe how the kid has made the mother’s life better.

“Clearly, you missed the part about the mother saying he was her angel and that he was here for a reason.”

that reason being… what?

“You miss the point because God didn’t forget the brain. It was missing on purpose.”

what a malicious cunt your imaginary fairy is.

“Sometimes that purpose is to prove to proud people that they really don’t know everything”

you mean like religious people who think they *KNOW* something but don’t know the difference between knowledge and faith and yet go around talking down to everyone who doesn’t believe as they do because of the voices in their head?

“that science doesn’t know everything”

science has said TIME AND AGAIN that ‘it’ doesn’t know everything, and it has NEVER CLAIMED to know everything. science is honest, unlike religious organisations who would bend people like you to their will.

“This boy proves that what we thought (ie brain is necessary for life) isn’t necessarily the whole truth.”

the boy had part of a brain, the only part of the brain (and thus the entire body) required for survival, the brain stem, so the statement you made is fucking horse shit.

“I know the world must seem cruel to you, but there is a purpose in everything.”

is there a purpose to men and women of the cloth beating and raping children? what about cutting off parts of children’s genitals? what about religious people attacking their own children for daring to behave as nature made them?

the one positive thing this kid ever had was never having to listen or read the fucking nonsense morons like you like to spill about your imaginary friend and his fucking bullshit mysterious ways cop out.

eat shit you worthless cunt.

“God’s got a reason.”

oh really? then let him come forth and explain why he’s been such a cunt to this poor family, that is if he’s not so much of a fucking coward to face his own ‘creation’ and be held accountable.

either your fairy is a malevolent fuck, or doesn’t exist. pick one.

“I know it sounds absurd, and in a couple years it’ll probably sound that way to me to, but He has a reason. Always does.”

oh really? and you have evidence for that? no? funny i didn’t think you would. oh and before you say it, faith is evidence for one thing and one thing only, enormous gullibility.

“Just sit back, shut up, and let him do whatever the heck he wants to.”

like that’s gonna happen. best of luck with that.

“don’t judge”

don’t judge who exactly? the parents? they were clinging to a warmed up doll for their own purposes. what fucking good was doing anything at all for that kid? NOTHING.

just because something breathes, doesn’t mean it’s ALIVE.

i think, therefore i am.

a theist calling anyone else ignorant is plain old hilarious.

“The child can hear….”
if he only had a brain stem, he wasn’t hearing a fucking thing.

“I am not a religious person but am spiritual”

translation: i don’t want to be grouped in with those jesus freaks so i just cooked up my own meaningless woowoo because reality is too much for me to handle without it.

Exactly. It pisses me off that they’re comparing this thing with disabled people. Look at the people with harlequin-type ichthyosis. Now that is truly a suffering person who I feel compassion for.

LOL! Couldn’t have said it better myself.

Thank you <3 Sorry about your grandfather.

So what? The brain stem is responsible for reflexes. For fuck’s sake, PLANTS have reflexes! The differences between plants and this baby thing is that plants are actually beneficial. I consider plants, and even ants higher than this baby.

Everyone here is claiming that this thing’s purpose in life is to stay alive and keep inspiring everybody else. I am actually arguing against these religious people that this baby should either be studied by scientists so we can avoid this kind of thing in the future, or let it fucking die and take if off all those damn medications. They claim that God is keeping it alive which is just complete bullshit. What’s the point in keeping it alive? It’s not experiencing life. It has no purpose to stay alive, unlike plants or even maggots. It’s a warm corpose.

Only the baby knows what he feels or felt thats the beauty of life situations like this prove you can’t explain everything. I just wish him comfort in passing and thank God for my son everyday and how blessed some people are.

There is Only One God, The medications were for “comfort” and “aide for seizures” your a close minded person who over look the small things in life and those are the most important. You must base your theories from statistics well statistically you are apart of a world compiled of mostly believers in a God.

They made it sound like he was Playing with the pumpkins. That’s the family hoping . WIth no cerebral cortex he is not capable of any conscious thought. He is also blind deaf has no other senses whatsoever. People don’t realize that everything we exQperience Is in our brains.

Let’s all stop arguing with the true “it” this person is just ridiculous and doesnt derserve the time and energy.

Btw nice Tweet
“Rose‏@Terr_loves_tiva

In my dream, a little asian girl with AIDS stabbed me multiple times with a needle that she used. WTF!”
Clearly you have issues.

So let me get this straight. You have no qualms with calling a person with feelings and thoughts an “it” but have problems calling a vegetable an “it?” You are the one with issues.

And come on, everyone has had a really weird dream at least once in their life time, especially after watching a weird movie. It was a random fucking dream which has no basis on my competence or mental stability. It does not reflect how I feel.

Oh, and my personal life is irrelevant. The fact that you tried to pull an ad hominem attack is ridiculous.

It cannot see, hear, smell, taste or feel. It didn’t respond to her touch, he was twitching because its reflex’s don’t work. I’d bet a million dollars it wasn’t “Playing” in the pumpkin patch, it was twitching and spasming on the ground while the parents watched and called it a gift from above.
Passing away would be the most humane thing to ever happen to it.

Actually, doctors & modern medicine are keeping this child alive. “God” is the one that allowed him to be born without a brain to begin with. I will never understand the willful ignorance of religious people.

Actually, doctors & modern medicine are keeping this child alive. “God” is the one that allowed him to be born without a brain to begin with. I will never understand the willful ignorance of religious people.

Look, I Can Capitalize Words Too! You Are An Idiot!

Look, I Can Capitalize Words Too! You Are An Idiot!

no worries,when each of these comedians reach the end of thier lives and get thrown into the void;itll wipe the smile off of each and every one of thier faces. each of thier dissolving ego’s will be sorry for each and every cheap shot. sad the repeating human cycle of cruelty never ends.

This isn’t a miracle. It’s a tragedy. Why waste precious medical supplies on a human body that will never be a person?

Ridiculous considering how much money is being spent on keeping this child alive where so many thousands of other children (with brains and real needs) die every second. What a waste.

What a lovely, open minded intellectual individual you are.

You know, even when you think you aren’t following His plans, you still are? Because He controls everything. Absolutely everything. So, atheist or not, He’s still in control. And if you don’t believe in Him, you’re the only one getting hurt. “Like that’s gonna happen”? I say it because it is.
Go on, call Him (or me, whichever) cunt-face, bastard, fucking brainless piece of shit, whatever you want. I care about as much as you believe.

What’s with you and everyone going to hell?
No one goes to hell for telling people to shut up. Do you have this thing about Christians believing everyone has to be perfect and that they are too? Because that’s a total misconception.
Whatevs, I’m not here to convince you.

Did I….
Offend you personally?
That’s some strong disgust you’re radiating.
Turns out I was right about your views, however.

I never said I was perfect. I also never said I had to be (because, really, no human will be perfect, ever. It’s not happening). You’re the one suggesting it.

I love how you keep asking me to prove things. What use would it be if I could bring God down, take a pic, and post it online? If you don’t agree/believe now, you wouldn’t if you were burning in hell itself.

Did you just say he made us gay, straight, bisexual, transgendered?

Did you also say you believe in God?

No.

Oh look! Sarcasm. The lowest form of wit.

“You know, even when you think you aren’t following His plans, you still are?”

Was that supposed to be a question? <— This is actually a question.

You talk about 'his' plans as if you were privy to them or as if they existed at all, another thing you have no evidence whatsoever to back up.

"Because He controls everything. Absolutely everything."

And here we have a classic example of theistic self contradiction. I take it that you, unlike millions of your fellow sheep, don't believe that 'he' gave 'us' free will? I ask because if 'he' controls absolutely everything then free will as it's claimed in the bible is utter nonsense, much like practically everything else in it.

"And if you don't believe in Him, you're the only one getting hurt."

Oh really? Who's gonna hurt me? Again, if you're gonna make idiotic claims, at least have some idiotic evidence to make it at least look like you're trying to use that grey matter between your ears, but then I'm sure it'll have suffered severe atrophy by this point in your life…

"I say it because it is."

See above.

"Go on, call Him (or me, whichever) cunt-face, bastard, fucking brainless piece of shit, whatever you want. I care about as much as you believe."

This claim is evidently false, otherwise you wouldn't have replied.

Thinking logically isn't your strong suit, is it?

“I love how you keep asking me to prove things.”

Good, you should try it. If you succeed you’ll gain some credibility.

“What use would it be if I could bring God down, take a pic, and post it online?”

It would be of ***incredible*** use. It would end an argument which has been raging for millennia and has cost millions of lives up to this point, and if it turns out your fairy is real then we can factor the millions that ‘HE’ killed (as mentioned in the bible) into those numbers too. Then, we could hold the cunt accountable.

“If you don’t agree/believe now, you wouldn’t if you were burning in hell itself.”

You’d be amazed how easy it is to turn a skeptic into a believer, it takes one tiny little thing: solid, irrefutable, evidence, and you don’t have any.

Also, you assume that ‘hell’ exists and is ‘hot’ too.

Where’s your evidence for ANY OF THIS?

YOU.

HAVE.

NOTHING.

“No one goes to hell for telling people to shut up.”

Oh really? Who told you that?

It cannot feel that “tender loving care” that its parents provide for it. It’s like loving and caring for a doll.

You people are the most horrible, cold-hearted people i have ever seen on the Internet Screw every one of you!

The most important day in my religious upbringing was the day our Priest stood in front of our congregation and told us that the Bible was a book written by men, through word of mouth stories, and edited and rewritten again and again and again. Be good to each other, ask forgiveness from those you have sinned against before asking it from God and you’ll be alright. The birth and life of Nicholas Coke is fascinating and I hope science learns something about anencephaly from his existence. Even if his life was only meant to further science and put a smile on the facees of his family, I would never deny his right to exist. As long as he isn’t suffering (and without a brain to register pain or discomfort, he is not suffering) every moment he spends on Earth can have meaning. Even if his purpose is to provide much needed infant organ donation, his life meant something. I truly hope that his family will let his life provide further study into scientific research and organ donation.

It bugs me when people find religion later in life. They spend the first 30, 40, 50 years of their life as atheists, or casual observers (Christmas Mass, Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday), and feel like they have to make up for lost time by shoving Christianity down everyone elses throat at every opportunity. Yes, most of the world is Christian, however, the issue on this board doesn’t seem to be Christian vs. Atheist as much as it is Evangelist vs. Science minded. You can be Christian, and never vocalize it outside of your family and congregation. There is no need to share something as personal as your relationship with God and use it as an argument with strangers on the internet. I had never ever heard the term “Jesus Freak” until the internet, and I can see why. When science is proving one thing, and your only response is “It’s God’s will”, that’s just lame. No one will know if God exists until they die. “It’s God’s will”, is the equivalent of an exasperated mother telling her child “because I said so”. There’s nothing to back it up except perceived authority. You are not an authority on Nicholas Coke. Unless you have become an ordained Priest, Preacher, Rabbi, Minister or Reverend you are not an authority on religion.

I only see one point in your argument. This baby is human. That’s where we differ. I put an enormous value on the quality of life. Little Nicholas doesn’t even know he exists, and he never will. His movements and noises are strictly reflexive. His prognosis is death. Someone born with a brain, has some level of awareness. I was severely injured in a car accident in 1993. My brain will never fully heal. I am not the same person. I have severe cognitive impairment which has a devastating effect on me and those that love me. But I still have a good life. I am happy, I am healthy, I have a child, I went to college, I’ve made friends, I’ve been in love. These are things that this poor child will never experience. It’s not about how long your life is, it’s how you live your life. Nicholas will never see his Mom’s smile. He’ll never see how blue the sky is, or hear a bird singing. He’ll never sit up, or crawl, or put crayons in his mouth. He’ll never feel how soft a cat is, or realize how nice baby shampoo makes his hair smell. A beating heart doesn’t make a life. The consciousness of the beauty in your world is what makes a life.

The preachy internet Christians are usually born again. Had nothing to do with religion as children.