Now, at just under five pounds, baby Chance is still fighting to survive. The family is praying and hoping he will be able to leave the hospital soon.
ATLANTA — A new life is still fighting after a beginning no one would have imagined.
April Newkirk’s daughter, Adriana Smith, was pronounced brain dead earlier this year. She was kept alive on life support for months before she died. The reason: to deliver her baby boy, Chance.
Newkirk said her newborn grandson is fighting, even as she is taking on another new battle herself. Her grief is still heavy.
“It’s not getting any better day by day,” she said.
Time hasn’t dulled her heartache.
“It’s hard because something’s been taken away from us, it’s hard. You know, I think about her every day, all the time,” she said.
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Nearly two months ago, Smith died after Chance was delivered through an emergency C-section. She was only eight weeks pregnant when a medical emergency left her brain dead. She was kept alive — on life support — from February to June until the delivery.
Now, at just under five pounds, baby Chance is still fighting to survive. The family is praying and hoping he will be able to leave the hospital close to the end of September or October.
“His weight is gradually picking up, but the breathing is what we’re concerned with,” Newkirk said. “So, he’s making a little bit of progress, but still some things to do.”
But as Chance fights on, Smith’s oldest son, 7-year-old Chase, learns how to live without his mother through family and counseling.
And Newkirk is waging her own war — telling her daughter’s story to call for Georgia’s heartbeat law — and others like it — to go.
Smith’s story drew national attention as her family said the state’s abortion law, known as the LIFE Act, forced doctors to keep her on life support because she was pregnant. The law bans most abortions once fetal cardiac activity is detected, around six weeks, and does not clearly address situations involving brain death.
However, in a statement released while Smith’s story continued to gain public interest, the Georgia Attorney General’s Office said the LIFE Act does not require doctors to maintain life support after a patient has been declared brain dead.
Legal experts said that while the law includes some exceptions, it leaves important questions unanswered for patients, families and hospitals.
RELATED: Remembering Adriana Smith: A Georgia mother laid to rest after carrying baby while brain dead
Meanwhile, Newkirk said her family is still hurting behind Smith’s passing.
“I want them to know that this didn’t have to happen. I want them to know that the law needs to be changed. It doesn’t need to be altered. It doesn’t need to be in effect at all. Women have rights; it’s their body.”
Her new passion comes from the pain.
Thelma Edmondson, Smith’s grandmother, is also calling for change along with the votes it would take to make it happen.
“We have to get rid of legislation,” Edmondson said. “We have to get out and vote for positive change. We have to get out and vote. There has to be awakening.”
Newkirk is speaking with lawmakers to do just that. She hopes to save another family from experiencing her heartbreak.
“I would like to see young women stop dying,” she said.
