A Louisiana boy who stunned doctors by surviving unbelievable expectations after being born without a brain passed away at the age of 12.
Trevor Judge Waltrip, born on Christmas Eve 2001 in Shreveport, suffered from hydranencephaly - a rare birth defect in which the brain’s cerebral hemispheres are absent and replaced by sacs filled with cerebrospinal fluid.
Only his brain stem was present, allowing him to breathe, maintain a heartbeat, and respond to some physical stimuli.
Doctors initially predicted the boy, who was blind and unable to communicate verbally, would not survive past 12 weeks.
“Babies born with this condition generally don’t live to birth,” his physician Larry Daniels once said, calling Trevor “very unique” for making it as far as he had, KSLA reported.
But the little boy defied all odds, reaching his first birthday and many more milestones with the help of devoted care from his family.
He was fed via a tube, received regular physical therapy to keep his muscles and joints stimulated, and, according to his mother, Elizabeth, was “so alert” and disliked being alone. “He’ll sense that too,” she told the outlet in 2003.
By 2005, Elizabeth said her son was doing really well, gaining weight, and had grown 15 teeth. “He does bite, so he does know what he’s doing,” she joked at the time.
“I look at it like he’s here for a reason, and I thank God every day for it,” she added.
Trevor’s remarkable life touched many people in the ArkLaTex region and beyond. His mother later found a support group for parents of children with similar diagnoses.
“Just to know about other babies out there like this, because I thought I was the only one. It's really... I feel much better,” she said.
The little boy passed away peacefully in his sleep on August 25, 2014. His obituary described him as “loved by all who met him and full of life and personality,” adding: “He will be missed by all.”
He is survived by his mother Elizabeth Potter and her husband, Eric Potter Sr.; father, Kevin E. Addie; sisters, Haley Pate, Dallas Waltrip, Abigail Potter; and brothers, Joshua Waltrip and Eric Potter Jr.
Funeral services were held on August 30 at Rose-Neath’s Southside Chapel in Shreveport, with visitation the evening before.
At the time, the family asked for help with funeral expenses through the “Trevor Judge Waltrip Donation Account” at Chase Bank.