Brematson and Associates Inc.

Born: November 6, 2002

She was the most beautiful baby with lustrous almost translucent blue-grey eyes and the perfect pink complexion of a healthy baby girl. So beautiful, in fact, that the initial reaction at her birth was that the doctors must have been wrong. Diagnosed sixteen weeks into the pregnancy with the knowledge that the baby had Spina Bifida her parents Susana and Jim Scott had been prepared for the worst not this feeling of awe that awaits every parent at the miracle of birth.

Spina bifida begins in the womb, when the tissues that fold to form the neural tube do not close or do not stay closed completely. This causes an opening in the vertebrae, which surround and protect the spinal cord. This occurs just a few weeks (21 to 28 days) after conception—usually before the woman knows that she is pregnant.

Victory was barely three hours old when she was whisked away to surgery to repair the cleft that had exposed the nerves of her spinal column.

Before antibiotics were available, most children born with spina bifida died soon after birth. Those who survived were severely disabled. With modern treatment, almost all children with the condition survive and most are able to live productive lives with some degree of independence. Even with these treatments, however, most have some degree of permanent leg paralysis and often difficulties with bowel and bladder function. The extent of paralysis depends on which part of the spinal cord is involved. The higher up the defect on the body is, the more severe the paralysis.

A large percentage of children born with spina bifida have hydrocephalus, the accumulation of fluid in the brain. Daily, Victory was monitored to see if the spinal fluid was circulating properly. Unfortunately, at only two weeks old she had to endure a second surgery to insert a shunt into her brain to drain the spinal fluid.

The doctors marveled at her hardy constitution and at two months Victory was able to go home to her family. But life at home was hardly what anyone would call normal. Little Victory still had her head bandaged due to the shunt surgery and could only lie on her stomach due the surgery to her back. At five months she was rushed back to the hospital for emergency surgery to repair the shunt. At seven months, at one year and again at eighteen months she underwent surgery to correct her club feet. Intensive therapy was required to her hips, legs and feet which had all been affected by the damage to the spinal column. With steadfast determination Victory accomplished the milestones of rolling over, crawling, standing and eventually walking all on her own. At age five Victory entered kindergarten, the biggest problem being her parents reluctance to “let go” as she began her first real steps of independence. Now in grade four her hobbies include swimming and playing music.  Recently the SMD Foundation/ Easter Seals Manitoba named Victory their 2011/12 Youth Ambassador.  Anyone who comes in contact with this feisty little girl instinctively knows that she will somehow triumph over the hurdles strewn in her path, each achievement a testimony to her own name.