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A mother whose baby saved her life is determined to make a lifetime of memories with her little girl before her daughter dies.
Willow Rae Porter has inclusive-cell (i-cell) disease, which affects her breathing, heart, digestion and joints and could cause her to die prematurely.
Katie Hanson from Seattle in Washington says that despite her 22-month-old’s condition, she has been her little saviour.
Daily Mail reports that when Katie (23) was pregnant with Willow, doctors discovered that she had cervical cancer during one of her routine pregnancy scans.
At the time, she was advised to have an abortion so she could be treated for the cancer but Katie was determined to carry her little angel to full term.
After giving birth, she had the three inches of cancerous cervix removed. She is now cancer-free and very thankful to her little girl, whom she says saved her life.
“Willow was my saving grace. If I wasn’t pregnant I would never have known I was developing cervical cancer. I was encouraged to terminate the pregnancy, but Willow saved my life. I wasn’t going to value myself over her,” she told Metro UK.
The single mother of two says she was crushed when they received Willow’s terminal diagnosis.
"Our whole world was turned upside down as we prepared for this life-limiting diagnosis. The best-case scenario is her living to ten years old, the average is between three and five and often less,” Katie told Metro UK.
They first realised something was wrong when Willow struggled to breathe and even stopped eating at about three months old.
Last year she only spent 12 days at home because she spent most of the year in hospital while tried to figure out what was wrong and treat her.
Little Willow’s diagnosis is less than two in a million – currently there are only 72 confirmed cases in the world, Katie told Metro UK.
Willow is constantly at risk of developing pneumonia and has so far survived eight bouts, as well as breathing and digestion problems, amongst other things.
Katie says although most children with i-cell only learn simple words or sentences or are non-verbal, Willow has just learned to say ‘momma’ and ‘yeah’ when she’s excited – and she constantly amazes her.
“My little girl puts up with so much and doesn't bat an eyelid. Willow is adorable and a social butterfly, she loves watching people, talking to people and always has a smile ready for anybody.
"We're trying to make as many memories with her as we possibly can, as the memories someday will be all we have left," Katie told The Sun .
Katie has set up a Fundraiser page where she says she is trying her best to provide but is in need of help. Despite everything she says she plans to make the most of what little time she has.
“We have been dealt with several hard circumstances that no family should ever have to face. All we wish for is to be able to enjoy all our time with Willow with at least a little bit less stress and worry about tomorrow.”
Sources: The Sun, Metro UK, Daily Mail
