Hazlehurst Baby Survives Extraordinary Odds

A Hazlehurst family says they truly believe in miracles tonight after a difficult five and a half weeks. Their son was born seven weeks premature and with several illnesses. Doctors told his family they didn't think he'd live 24 hours, but so far he's proven everyone wrong.

Jim and Carmen Simpson already have two children, Isaac and Katelyn. They named their third child Zoe, which is Greek for life. It's clear by looking at the past few weeks that Zoe is living up to his name.

The Ronald McDonald house has been the Simpson family's home for several weeks. It's across the street from Memorial Health where Jim and Carmen's son is in the neonatal intensive care unit.

"When I gave birth to my son, I knew he would be rushed to Savannah because he was premature. I did not know at the time that he was born with the condition he had known as Hydrops," says Carmen, describing the severe condition of swelling in several areas of a newborn baby's body.

"Within the first 24 hours that he was here, doctors did not expect him to live that long," says Carmen.

Doctors also found fluid on Zoe's brain and thought he might be blind. "We were told there was no surgery they could do that would help him. That his condition was too poor to go into surgery anyway and that the respirator alone ultimately would be supporting his life," says Carmen.

So Zoe's parents made a tough decision. "We pulled him off the respirator and he kept going. He didn't stop breathing. He didn't skip a beat. That in itself was a big surprise to the doctors," says Carmen, and it wasn't the last surprise.

The swelling in Zoe's body went down and eye doctors also had good news. "And said, ‘Last week I told you that your baby would not see. Today, I'm telling you your baby will see,’" says Carmen.

"We've spent a lot of time laboring in prayer and calling out to Jesus for healing and so yeah, I can believe what's happening is happening," says Jim.

Zoe still has a long way to go, but his dad is already looking ahead to Zoe's wedding day. "I would tell Zoe that he doesn't know what tomorrow brings and every day he's had is a blessing," says Jim.

Doctors want Zoe to stay through the end of the month, then they'll take make a decision on when he can leave.

If you want to learn more about Zoe and what he and his family have experienced these past few weeks, log onto prayforzoe.com.