KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Cecilia Duarte and her son, Rafael, walked the halls of St. Luke's Hospital Kansas City's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit with glad hearts and a fresh perspective.
“When we were here, I never imagined or thought that we would be here like this,” Duarte said. “And he would be standing by me and not in there.”
Before Rafael was an 8-year-old with a love for the outdoors and his family, he spent months in an incubator.
Duarte delivered Rafael at just 22 weeks.
“This is where you were when Daddy and I used to come see you in the NICU,” Duarte told her son as she gave him a tour of the room.
In 2022, one out of every 10 babies was born premature. A baby is considered premature if they are born before 37 weeks.
The care team at St. Luke’s Hospital Kansas City welcomed the Duarte family back into the NICU during Prematurity Awareness Month.
Because of his small size, Rafael was one of the first patients of ELGAN, the hospital's Extremely Low Gestational Age Newborn program.
Mindy Smith helped start the specialized team eight years ago.
“I think that’s one of the good things about having a baby at St. Luke’s is this is what we specialize in, this is what we enjoy and this is what we take a lot of pride in,” Smith said while smiling at the Duarte family. “Being able to help them through that scary experience is the best part of my job.”
Over the course of a few months, Rafael grew in size and strength. He now towers over the tiny bear that sat next to him in the incubator.
“He is doing everything that they thought that he might not do, so it’s a blessing,” Duarte said.
Rafael’s glasses, hearing aids and a few scars are reminders of his time in the unit.
Duarte said standing in the room that changed their lives for the better reignited their gratitude.
“I am thankful that he is able to see this, to see where he was when he was very tiny and very sick,” she said. “But I am more thankful that he is here now with me.”
The Duartes plan to celebrate another Thanksgiving as a family of five in their Kansas home.
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