Jaxon Buell, Baby Born With Partially Formed Brain, Beats The Odds To Meet Santa And Celebrate Christmas

When Jaxon Buell’s parents found out he would be born without a fully formed brain — and that his chances of survival were very low — they were shocked, but they didn’t give up. Brandon and Brittany Buell, who gave birth to Jaxon in August 2014, believed that if they had enough hope and faith in their son, he could live longer than just a few days — and perhaps even make progress developmentally. Now, well over a year later, Jaxon is doing well, and he even recently had a visit to Santa Claus in the Christmas spirit.

Jaxon was born with microhydranencephaly, a developmental abnormality that prevents the brain from forming properly in the womb. While scientists aren’t completely sure what causes the disability, it may have to do with a mutation in the NDE1 gene. Microhydranencephaly is considered a very rare disability, affecting one in 4,859 babies in the U.S. every year — though most of these cases are aborted before birth.

Jaxon is a unique scenario because his parents believed he deserved a chance to live. And they’re doing everything in their power to shower him with love, care, and affection — helping him learn how to hold items, and respond to their words.

“In 15 months of being with us, Jaxon is learning to talk, walk, speak, smile, laugh, communicate, can certainly hear and see, and is making strides to even eat on his own, showing promise of one day kicking the only machine that he is actually dependent on, his feeding pump, and all of this with the severe disability that he has, against the odds, and against the doubts that have been there since before he was born,” Brandon Buell wrote on his Facebook.

For Christmas, Jaxon is drinking in the sights around him — and all in all being a symbol of hope in the people around him.