The Walls were living a normal, uneventful life until the summer of 1975 changed their lives forever. Young Teresa Walls was going through her first pregnancy. Everything seemed normal. Then the time came when she was to give birth to her little baby. After she went through her labor, the doctors gave her a threatening news. Her baby boy was one in a million, born with a rare heart disorder Ectopia Cordis. What this meant was that her baby was born with his heart literally out of his chest. What she didn’t know that her little boy was indeed a miracle baby.
The little boy, christened as Christopher Wall had no room in his chest for his tiny heart. While doctors in many parts of the world would have lost hope and left him to die, little Chris was lucky that his doctors were not ready to give up. They immediately put Chris in the ventilator and checked for other disorders. They had a pleasant surprise that little Chris was perfectly normal other than his tiny heart that hung out of his chest.
Christopher Wall’s chest was too little to accommodate his heart. Doctors later found that his chest was not only tiny but also weak and Chris needed a respirator to breath.
Christopher’s first 18 months were very difficult during which he endured 15 surgeries. He was allowed to leave the hospital not before he was nearly 3 years old. Until then, young Chris had already became a living miracle. At 6 years old, the doctors were able to give Christopher Wall a new breast bone made out of his own hip bone.
Atlast Chris was able to lead a normal, happy life. The many surgeries left Christopher Walls with hearing loss and learning-disabilities, but that didn’t stop brave Chris to enjoy sports like karate. Christopher Walls is now volunteering at the same children hospital that helped him get through the gargantuan challenge to survive.
“I just wanna be a good person,” he said. “I just wanna work and help out with my family.”