Meet Owen
Meet Owen
This seven-year-old Dreamer has experienced more surgeries and illnesses than most people can imagine.
Miracles are real for seven-year-old Dream Kid Owen and his family. When his mom was five months pregnant, she learned that Owen would be born with Down Syndrome, holes in his heart, and growths in his stomach obstructing his digestive system. Doctors stressed that she could miscarry at any time.
Pictured: Dream Kid Owen went into surgery the moment he was born.
“One doctor told me he had seen babies with these problems before, but never one baby with all of these issues at once,” Amanda, Owen’s mom shared with us. “It didn’t matter, once I felt him moving around in there, I had no choice but to see what was going to happen.”
When Owen arrived, he faced his first surgery. The duodenal atresia – his stomach obstruction – had to be dealt with immediately. After a month in NICU, Owen was sent home with a feeding tube.
“Owen was the quietest, easiest baby, other than the medical issues,” Owen’s mom told us. “But I’ve come to realize it’s because he was so unwell.”
After Owen’s successful heart surgery, the relief was short lived. Immediately upon returning home, Owen lost all energy and just lay still. His parents rushed him to the Children’s Hospital and the following day, he went into cardiac arrest.
“They were able to resuscitate him, but he was ventilated and on more machines than I’d ever seen.”
Owen would need yet another surgery – this time it was a 50/50 survival rate – and even if he did, it was a 50/50 chance that they would be able to take him off ventilation.
Pictured: Baby Owen with his mom and sister.
Miraculously, Owen pulled through and would come off the ventilator! Though the surgery was a success, Owen then developed complications to his urinary tract that lead to swelling and infection. In addition to a feeding tube, Owen also needed a catheter and many, many medications throughout each day.
Another surgery, and another success – Owen just keeps fighting. Just before the pandemic, Owen caught a respiratory virus and went into sepsis.
“We were told to baptize him if we believed in that, and so we did,” Owen’s mom shared.
Another miracle – Owen pulled through again! During the pandemic, Owen had another heart surgery. Since then, his health has increased exponentially. He has tons of energy and his growing nicely!
Pictured: Owen has been through the unimaginable, but he’s still a happy, fun-loving child!
Owen may never talk due to a stroke he experienced at some point during all the surgeries, viruses, and sepsis, and he’ll require even more surgery in the future. But for right now, he’s feeling good and loving life!
“He’s been spending the last couple of years making up for lost time and getting into all the trouble he could previously just imagine,” Owen’s mom says. “He’s very strong and he loves school, the outdoors, and his animals. Birds, butterflies, and bubbles are some of his favourite things. He goes a million miles a minute and I can barely keep up!”
Owen’s Dream is a backyard makeover – he’s going to have a beautiful area to chase bubbles and watch birds and butterflies. After countless surgeries, after going through unimaginable illnesses, Owen deserves to relax in a space that’s perfectly made to bring him joy as he continues to grow.