SLIDELL, La. — Doctors didn't expect a 2-year-old girl from Slidell to live to see her third birthday due to a rare heart condition.
In July, doctors told LeAnna Brown's parents she had two weeks to live. Now, she is a happy, strong 3-year-old with a brand new heart. Her parents call her survival a miracle.
As a newborn, Brown was diagnosed with a rare metabolic disorder that caused heart failure. It's called Multiple acyl-CoA dehydrogenation deficiency (MADD). When doctors told her she likely wouldn't survive another few weeks, her parents, Ashley Mitchell and Jason Brown, began calling hospitals all around the world, begging and praying for a sliver of hope.
"I really thought we were going to have to bury my baby," Mitchell said.
With so little research on her condition, doctors didn't know if a heart transplant would work.
"Basically doctors are telling us if no other hospital picks her up, we will just make her comfortable," Mitchell told WWL-TV on July 1, 2020.
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Only days later, Children's Hospital Colorado became the answer to their prayers.
"They were the last hope. Everyone else turned us down," Brown said.
"They were the only ones willing to take the chance," Mitchell said.
The family packed up from their Slidell home and moved to Colorado where a team of doctors got to work.
"They had genetics teams here, cardiology teams, transplant teams," Mitchell said.
LeAnna was added to the transplant list. Not even two months later, her parents got the call that a heart was available for LeAnna.
"We got the call six days ago. She got the heart five days ago," Mitchell said. "Unbelievable. I literally could have jumped through the roof of my car. I still can't believe it. I still can't believe it."
LeAnna now has a new heart. She's recovering and doctors tell her parents they are hopeful she will have a full, long life ahead of her.
"It's just everything I asked God for happened, it's a miracle," Brown said.
"The power of prayer, the power of prayer. I don't think people understand that we have people all around the world praying, this is nothing short of a miracle," Mitchell said.
The family relocated to Colorado where they will live for at least the next year as her doctors monitor her recovery.
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