It’s one thing to give money to a trustworthy charity. It’s another thing to risk your life to give life to another.
In a story that is almost miraculous, 19-year-old Grace Anslow gave birth to a baby girl. However, she did so while in treatment for end-stage kidney failure. The women was advised to abort and was told, if she did not do so, she could die. She refused on both counts.
Amazingly, Anslow went to kidney dialysis for up to four hours per day for six days per week during the entire pregnancy.
Prior to the pregnancy, she went to the doctor to check up on some bruising on her legs. The doctor ordered Anslow to take a series of blood tests. Thinking it was just an allergic reaction, Anslow was shocked to find out her life was in serious danger.
“The doctor called me in and told me to go straight to City Hospital as he thought it was something to do with my kidneys,” Grace said.
Grace recalled that she was always pale and slept a lot, but lately she had been feeling dizzy too.
The diagnosis that she had a lot of toxic waste built up in her body sounded like a death sentence. Doctors told her that if she hadn’t come in, she actually would have been dead in six weeks.
So, it came as an even bigger shock that she got pregnant, something her doctors did not think could happen. Happiness turned to fear and sadness when all the doctors explained the risks to her life such as preeclampsia.
In a series of rollercoaster-like emotional decisions, she chose to risk her life to try to deliver. With each milestone, Anslow felt elated.
“I started to feel her moving inside me and it was lovely when I felt her first kick,” she said.
“But I was terrified the whole way through.”
Her daughter, Ava, was delivered by caesarian section and declared healthy.
Can you put a price on love? If so, it may be the willingness to give your own life to save another.