When this special little girl was born, her doctors were astonished and frightened. They believed she would never have any quality of life. But what happened to her in later years is a story of hope, faith, and inspiration.
Katie Renfro was born on January 28th, 2008, by C-section. Her mom doesn’t remember much of that day because of the anesthesia, but what she does remember to this day is the frightened look in the doctor and nurses’ eyes during the ultrasound.
The specialists had already been able to tell her that her unborn daughter’s head measured three times the size it was supposed to be. Even with all that warning six months before the delivery, Angie and Daniel Rano were told that their child would face endless challenges before meeting an untimely death because of her condition. They had encouraged the couple to think about their five healthy children who needed their undivided attention and care.
The final decision rested upon the parents’ shoulders, and Angie and Daniel soon realized that they couldn’t say goodbye to their baby. For them, Katie was already a miracle. Angie had been advised by doctors to avoid further pregnancies due to the stress her body had undergone giving birth to five healthy kids.
However, when they found out they were expecting one more miracle, they welcomed her into their lives. Unlike her siblings, Katie did not look like any other ordinary baby. She had huge pink cheeks, almost like a chipmunk, except much larger. Her little ears were also deformed, and the extra skin on top of her cheeks gave the appearance of a modeled brown owl.
In the months that followed, doctors conducted various tests to determine what made Katie the way she was. Up to this day, they haven’t been able to give her condition a proper medical name. But that made no difference to the Renfro family. To them, she was simply the sister and daughter they loved and cared for.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t only a facial deformity that Katie was suffering from. The deformed ears turned out to also cause partial deafness, and the poor girl suffered seizures up to times a day. Her tongue did not fit into her mouth, and her head was too heavy to be supported by her tiny frame.
Nine months after her birth, doctors had no option but to remove part of her brain to contain the seizures. Addressing other medical matters had to wait for some time in the future. The Renfro family had to adopt a life with little “Katybug,” one of the many endearing names her dad called her. However, from the start, the family decided not to treat their daughter as the disabled one.
They made a conscious decision not to live in fear or shame and even went on to have two more children, born healthy and without the same disability as their sister. Being open and brave in public was sometimes easier said than done. With a sibling looking completely different from the norm, people often stared and pointed. The older sisters took up their responsibility to protect Katie. Megan, nine years older, often said that she learned to cope with difficult things in life since her sister was born.
Despite Katie being different in many ways, she was also just like any other ordinary baby. The size of her mouth and tongue did not stop her from finding creative ways to comfort herself. When the other girls played a game, they included their sister in the same way they would have done with any other person. Katie was never left at home during family outings, as she was simply another member of this close-knit family.
The Renfro family almost did not have a choice but to be close. Living in a modest mobile home, space was limited. With each new sibling arriving, they managed to extend the home a little. But they would have been lying if they had said they were all comfortable inside their tiny home.
Going to school in Paxton and Laurel Hill gave the kids a daily break from the cramped space. Although they never complained, in such a small space, tidiness was key. Despite both Angie and Daniel not working, the family was almost entirely self-sufficient. They received a disability grant from the government but didn’t expect others to pity them or to look after them.
When a Good Samaritan handed them something useful, they received it with gladness. They made sure their children had everything they needed to thrive in life, and a good education was at the top of their list. At age 4, Katie was enrolled at Richbourg Preschool in Crestview. The doctors had told her parents that she would be little more than a vegetable on a cognitive level, but that was far from the truth. Katie had the ability to learn things, and her response to her environment indicated that she understood many things.
Like all kids, she also knew how to throw a tantrum. Despite not having any more seizures, the muscles in Katie’s body still tightened constantly, causing her body to roll from side to side, which caused discomfort to her tiny frame. Every person in the family was taught what to do in such circumstances. The one closest to Katie would start giving her pets on the back, rubbing her arms, or pinching her feet to help her body snap out of this state. Besides these seizure-like moments, one thing that still bothered her were her huge cheeks.
In 2012, at the age of 4, Katie was about to undergo her first operation of many planned to give her a more normal facial shape. Doctors at Hollywood’s Memorial Hospital in Florida planned to downsize her cheeks, do some cosmetic surgery to her ears, and shorten her tongue to get rid of the excess weight.
Unfortunately, there was no other way for her to eat than to be fed through a feeding tube. At some stage, doctors also decided to remove her tonsils to open up some space in her mouth. Two cysts that had been detected in her head were also surgically removed.
Her cheeks had been downsized several times, but they still gave her the appearance of a chipmunk. Despite everything, her family had grown to love her for it. When asked to describe Katie, her sisters called her outgoing and wild.
This was not what would be expected from a girl who had undergone many more surgeries in her life than anyone should ever have to go through. Whenever the family was having a dark day, it was Katie who brightened up everything with her laugh and smiles.
With incredible odds stacked against her, some may wonder if this special girl is still alive and how she looks these days. This is Katie at the age of 15, living the best life she possibly could. Her physical appearance hasn’t changed much despite the numerous surgeries she has undergone, and her big cheeks are still her most prominent feature.
However, she is happier than any doctor might have predicted 15 years ago. Despite the many challenges they’ve had to face so far, her parents couldn’t be prouder of their decision to bring their little miracle baby into the world. Mother Angie’s motto in life is, “Whatever God gives you, he will help you cope with it.”
Would you have the ability to be as positive as Katie’s parents have always been? Do you think her siblings were forced to grow up too soon?
