Canadian Baby Joseph Maraachli is Alive Because of United States Health Care

Everyone knows who baby Jesus was, but now the media is buzzing about Baby Joseph.

Fox News showed footage around one pm today that made a trigger in the brain go off. This is a story that needs to be blogged about – so much being said about negativity of United States Health Care and how universal is so much better and then a story such as this comes around. After watching Michael Moore’s Sicko the thought was that the universal health care that is provided in Canada must be better than America.

Well, baby Joseph Maraachi is alive today because of the health care in America. The Fox News footage interviewed the father and really painted a picture that the United States has done something commendable and since this is a positive thing as a nation we can all take a piece and say that we saved the life of this toddler.

Joseph’s parents were just waiting for their terminally ill son to die at a nearby (Windsor, Ontario, Canada) hospital, but they were able to get him a tracheotomy at a hospital in Missouri. The doctors at the previous hospital had refused to perform the procedure and instead wanted to take Joseph off of life support.

The family already lost a daughter nine years prior to a similar condition and if it had not been for the help from the hospital in St. Louis, Missouri (in the UNITED STATES), the family would have lost their son as well.

The Windsor Times atCanada.com reports:

The 14-month-old infant, who suffers from a progressive neurological disease and whose plight sparked an international right-to-life debate, received a tracheotomy at the faith-based SSM Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center in St. Louis and is now in the pediatric intensive care unit.

The hospital issued a statement saying Joseph likely will spend seven to 10 days in the ICU before he’s transferred to another pediatric specialty hospital in St. Louis, and then home to Windsor.

“It is our hope that this procedure will allow Joseph and his family the gift of a few more months together and that Joseph may be more comfortable with a permanent tracheotomy,” the statement said.

The hospital also identified, for the first time, the name of Joseph’s condition — Leigh syndrome, a rare, inherited disorder that affects the central nervous system.

The disease can be caused by DNA mutations or enzyme deficiencies. Its symptoms — including loss of motor skills, lack of muscle tone and seizures — usually progress quickly and the prognosis is very poor. Joseph’s sister Zina died from a similar condition nine years ago.

Joseph was airlifted to St. Louis last week from the London, Ont. Health Sciences Centre, where he’d been a patient since October. His parents, Moe Maraachli and Sana Nader, were locked in a bitter battle with LHSC over where and how the baby would die.

The hospital (London Health Science Center) believed that Joseph was in a vegetative state that was beyond recovery – it is such a great thing that the parents of the boy did not take no for an answer and came to find a way to keep their son alive.

CNN‘s report gives background information about the group that helped the family:

The Maraachli case caught the attention of the group Priests for Life, which funded Joseph’s transfer and treatment at the SSM Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center. That hospital deemed the procedure medically appropriate and Baby Joseph underwent a tracheotomy there on March 21.

Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, said he considers this a “victory over the culture of death.” He says “[Joseph] has gained benefit from his tracheotomy, is breathing on his own, and is going home to live with his parents.”

Priests for Life is a Catholic pro-life organization which functions as a network to prevent abortion and euthanasia. They are often noted for the graphic images depicting abortion they use to make their case.

Here’s a video to enjoy:

–Nikky Raney
Member of Society of Professional Journalists