Abbey Ahern, 34, who lives in Oklahoma, was shocked and heartbroken when she was told at her 19-week scan that her daughter had the incurable illness anencephaly (无脑畸形) which meant she would not live beyond a few hours. It ripped her heart out.
According to the National Institutes of Health, the illness means the baby has an underdeveloped brain and incomplete skull (颅骨). Approximately one in 10,000 babies in the US are born with anencephaly, most of which result in early death.
As a result, Abbey and her pilot husband Robert, also 34, decided to have a live birth so that they could spend time with their daughter and donate her organs — making Annie the first newborn baby donor in the state.
Afterwards they asked the doctor for the gender of their unborn child and decided to name her on the spot. They named her easily: Annie, which means, “grace”. Abbey said: “Carrying a seriously-ill baby to term was by far the most difficult thing I have ever done…For us, even in the middle of our terrible heartbreak we were able to see so much beauty.” The family spent just 14 hours and 58 minutes with Annie before she passed away.
Her organs were not available for transplant (移植) because her oxygen levels were too low — which Abbey said was “disappointing”— but they were able to donate her heart valves (瓣膜) and some of her organs could be used for research. She said: “Annie’s story is one of hope. I think it shows people that in the middle of tragedy, there can be beauty.”
【小题1】How did Abbey feel at the news about her daughter firstly?| A．Surprised and upset. | B．Worried and determined. |
| C．Relieved and regretful. | D．Curious and angry. |
| A．Keeping Annie in hospital. | B．Stopping giving birth to Annie. |
| C．Giving away Annie’s organs. | D．Naming her daughter after beauty. |
| A．Because of diseases. | B．Because of low temperature. |
| C．Because of heart valves. | D．Because of lack of oxygen. |
| A．To call on people to donate organs. | B．To share a touching story with readers. |
| C．To inform people of what anencephaly is. | D．To show what a tragedy the story is. |
