Health
Baby with fatal brain disorder ‘saved’ by anonymous $47K donation
A Florida baby who was given just weeks to live is thriving today — and it wouldn’t have been possible without the generosity of an anonymous donor who covered her medical bills.
When Bill and Meg Longhenry welcomed their second child, Millie, in August 2023, they were told she had no hope of survival due to a rare and severe congenital brain disorder called alobar holoprosencephaly (HPE).
HPE affects about one in 10,000 live births, and most infants do not survive beyond the first week, statistics show. Millie was born with the most severe form of the disease.
BOY HONORED BY TRUMP SAYS CANCER WON’T SLOW HIM DOWN UNTIL ‘GOD CALLS’ HIM HOME
“We found out that she has a rare brain malformation where part of her brain didn’t develop, and the other part didn’t develop correctly,” Meg Longhenry said in an on-camera interview with Fox News Digital.
“So there’s no division between the two hemispheres and the middle is hollow.”
Millie Longhenry (left) was diagnosed with a severe congenital brain malformation called alobar holoprosencephaly (HPE) at 2 months old. (Nadine B. Photography)
Doctors told the parents that “Millie should have been a miscarriage or a stillbirth,” her mother said. “She should have died moments after birth.”
“They told us over 95% of patients with this diagnosis don’t survive past the first few months … and anyone who survives past that requires an enormous deal of medical care, like feeding tubes and breathing tubes,” said Bill Longhenry. “Usually they have no brain function.”
KIDS WITH DOWN SYNDROME CAN LIVE ‘ABUNDANT LIVES,’ DAD TELLS FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR
After spending two months in the hospital, Millie was sent home on hospice care with four to six months to live — but the Longhenrys weren’t ready to give up.
“God had something else in mind,” said Bill Longhenry. “God had a different plan, and only God was able to really make that decision.”
“Millie should have been a miscarriage or a stillbirth,” doctors told the baby’s parents.
A friend recommended that Millie’s parents connect with Dr. Brandon Crawford, a functional neurologist at the NeuroSolution Center of Austin, who specializes in using non-invasive techniques without drugs or surgery.
Upon reviewing MRIs and examining Millie, Crawford said he saw “huge potential.”
Millie, pictured with her big brother, Theo, was born with the most severe form of alobar holoprosencephaly. (Nadine B. Photography)
While much of her brain is missing, he said, the higher portion is “relatively intact and functioning well,” he told Fox News Digital.
“I started to get the idea that this kiddo is really trying — she’s not on the decline, she’s actually really fighting to live her life in this world.”
Defying the odds
Under Crawford’s care, Millie began a treatment plan that included laser light therapies, acoustic wave therapy that uses sound waves to stimulate natural healing processes, and primitive reflex integration, which “retrains” the brain-body connection and helps babies learn to better control their movements.
Dr. Marcella Madera, a neurosurgeon who serves as NeuroSolution’s medical director, also collaborates on Millie’s treatment to ensure safety and efficacy.
NEW BRAIN THERAPY ALLOWS PARALYZED PATIENTS TO WALK AGAIN
“It’s this combination of regenerative medicine, developmental functional neurology, and photobiomodulation that’s sparking and fueling her brain development and building neuroplasticity,” Crawford told Fox News Digital in a separate interview.
“For example, she can clearly see and she responds to visual cues — yet she doesn’t have the majority of those visual pathways developed in her brain,” he went on. “That means her brain has rewired and remapped the ability to see, and that’s the amazing part, that the brain is able to do that.”
At NeuroSolution Center of Austin, Millie began a treatment plan that included laser light therapies, acoustic wave therapy that uses sound waves to stimulate natural healing processes, and primitive reflex integration. (Bill and Meg Longhenry)
Bill Longhenry describes the treatment as “combining physical therapy with neural functions.”
Today, Crawford said, Millie is not only surviving, but thriving — something that is very rare for this condition.
“She continues to grow and develop and is getting stronger,” he said. “We’re working on crawling with her right now — that’s unheard of for this. Her joint attention continues to improve, even her ability to eat.”
FATHER CREATED A DRUG TO SAVE HIS SON FROM A RARE DISEASE, NOW OTHER FAMILIES ARE DESPERATE TO GET IT
Millie is also starting to vocalize, Crawford said, saying “Mom” and “Dad” and communicating with her big brother, Theo.
“She’s got a spunky little personality, and it’s amazing,” he said. “Honestly, if you look at her and interact with her in person and then look at her MRI, you wouldn’t think it’s the same kid.”
Millie is smiling, laughing and responding to her name. She also understands people’s speech and uses sign language, her family said. (Nadine B. Photography)
Millie is smiling, laughing and responding to her name. She also understands people’s speech and is using sign language.
“Millie would not be here today if we weren’t doing the different things to help her brain, to help her rewire,” added Meg Longhenry.
Answered prayers
Last month, Millie’s family faced the possibility of canceling her intensive neurological therapy due to financial constraints.
Meg Longhenry had recently let Crawford know they would have to cancel their next treatment due to lack of funds — but he told her to come in anyway.
MOTHER FRANTIC TO SAVE CLINICAL TRIAL THAT COULD CURE HER DAUGHTER: ‘THE TREATMENT IS SITTING IN A FRIDGE’
“I said, don’t worry about it, just come. There’s no way I’m dropping care with Millie — we’ve come too far.”
On the morning of March 27, as Crawford’s team was about to perform another regenerative medicine procedure with Millie, they prayed for divine intervention, he told Fox News Digital.
“A couple of hours later, we got the random phone call,” he said. “It was another patient who has been following Millie’s story, and she said, ‘I feel like I’m supposed to donate something for Millie’s case, and my front desk said, well, that would be amazing.”
Bill Longhenry is pictured holding his daughter, Millie. “She continues to grow and develop and is getting stronger,” he said. (Bill and Meg Longhenry)
The donor offered to cover the total outstanding balance for Millie’s treatment — more than $47,000.
“It’s just impossible to understand that level of generosity from a stranger,” said Bill Longhenry.
“We have to pursue this treatment, but it’s not covered by insurance, so we’re just doing whatever we can to make it work.”
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER
Ultimately, the Longhenrys did find out who covered the medical expenses — a previous patient of Dr Crawford’s. They were able to call her and thank her for the donation.
While this anonymous gift clears a major financial hurdle, Millie’s journey is far from over, the family shared.
Millie is pictured with her big brother, Theo. In March, an anonymous donor called NeuroSolution Center of Austin and offered to cover the Longhenrys’ outstanding medical debt. (Bill and Meg Longhenry)
She will require follow-up therapy every four to six months, specialized home equipment and travel for continued care, which insurance does not cover.
“I think the finances are always really scary for us … but there’s not a price that I could put on her life,” Meg Longhery said. “I’ll continue to fight and do what I need to do so she can have the best life that she can.”
“There’s not a price that I could put on her life.”
The family also relies heavily on their faith, believing that Jesus worked through Dr. Campbell to help save Millie’s life, according to her mother.
“We serve such a big God that he is greater than our biggest fears — he is the greatest physician, and he aligns us with where we need to be and who we need to be,” she said.
For more Health articles, visit www.foxnews.com/health
“And it’s so encouraging to see the growth that we were told repeatedly we wouldn’t see.”
For more information about Millie’s journey and progress, people can visit MovingMountainsForMillie.org or @movingmountainsformillie on Instagram.
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
An accidental lab discovery has opened the door to entirely new ways of preventing the flu.
While investigating how influenza replicates, researchers discovered that different flu strains use completely different strategies to infiltrate human cells, SWNS reported.
By targeting the specific molecules the viruses rely on, scientists found that they could block them from entering new cells and halt their replication altogether.
5 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE GETTING YOUR FLU SHOT, ACCORDING TO DOCTORS
Researchers say these “fundamental insights” into seasonal influenza highlight a clear path toward developing better preventive medications.
“The hope is that fundamental, curiosity-based research like this helps to pave the way for novel strategies to treat and prevent influenza infections,” principal investigator Dr. Emily Bruce, from the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine, said in the SWNS report.
While investigating how influenza replicates, researchers discovered that different flu strains use completely different strategies to infiltrate human cells. (iStock)
While several flu strains cause illness, H1N1 and H3N2 influenza A viruses are the most common. However, current flu tests cannot differentiate between them, and clinical treatments are identical for both.
Although vaccines and antivirals are available, Bruce noted a “dire” need for better medications to stop the virus from spreading cell to xxcell.
“You don’t get sick when a virus is in one cell,” he noted. “You get sick because a virus replicates itself and goes into many more cells.”
HOW LONG YOU’RE CONTAGIOUS WITH THE FLU — AND WHEN IT’S SAFE TO GO OUT
The study, which was published in The Journal of Virology, originally aimed to map how viral RNA segments are transported within cells to create new viral particles.
The team used H1N1 and H3N2 viruses isolated from the nasal passages of positive patients in 2022.
Clinical treatments remain identical for both primary strains of the flu virus. (iStock)
During the investigation, the team unexpectedly stumbled upon a cellular pathway that blocked the virus from entering lung cells, SWNS reported.
RESEARCHERS LOCKED FLU PATIENTS IN A HOTEL WITH HEALTHY ADULTS — NO ONE GOT SICK
The data revealed that when a specific human protein called Rab11B was depleted, H3N2 viruses failed to enter human lung cells. H1N1 viruses were completely unaffected.
Using reverse genetics, the team mapped this defect and uncovered a brand-new, H3N2-specific role for Rab11B during viral entry.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE HEALTH STORIES
This discovery challenged the scientific assumption that all flu viruses enter cells the same way.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER
“Viruses are like pirates from different countries hijacking someone’s ship,” Bruce said. “Different viruses, like different types of pirates, use different methods to get onboard.”
This discovery challenged the scientific assumption that all flu viruses enter cells the same way. (iStock)
“We had previously thought that all flu viruses used the same way to get into a cell, but we discovered that this is not true,” she went on. “H1N1 and H3N2 need different proteins to get in, and if you get rid of the right protein, a specific virus can’t get in.”
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
While these findings identify a critical cellular pathway for viral entry, the study was conducted using isolated cells, the researchers acknowledged.
TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ
Further research is needed to determine whether blocking the protein is safe and effective within a live, complex human respiratory system.
Bruce and the team hope to conduct further research to determine whether this Rab11B-dependency is a fundamental property of H3N2, or if it’s a trait unique to currently circulating flu strains.
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Eating processed meat like ham, sausage and bacon may be linked to a higher risk of certain types of cancer, according to new research.
While health organizations have already confirmed that processed meat can contribute to colon cancer, this study looked closer at cancers in the upper digestive tract, where the link has historically been less clear.
To understand these connections, researchers from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), one of the world’s largest long-term nutrition and cancer cohorts, tracked the health and diets of 450,112 people across Europe for an average of 14 years.
FREQUENT HEARTBURN MAY BE A WARNING SIGN OF A MORE DANGEROUS CONDITION, DOCTOR SAYS
The study group included 131,426 men and 318,686 women, according to the study’s press release.
During the follow-up period, 876 people developed stomach cancer and 215 people developed esophageal adenocarcinoma, which is cancer of the tube connecting the mouth to the stomach.
For female participants, eating both processed meat and white meat was linked to an increased risk of developing the disease. (iStock)
Researchers tracked where the stomach cancers grew, separating them into the upper part of the stomach near the throat and the lower part of the stomach.
The researchers also sorted the tumors into two categories based on how the cancer cells appeared under a microscope: intestinal, which forms more organized structures, and diffuse, in which the cells are more scattered throughout the tissue.
BACTERIA IN YOUR MOUTH MAY TRAVEL TO THE GUT AND TRIGGER STOMACH CANCER, RESEARCH FINDS
After adjusting for other lifestyle factors, the researchers found that for every extra 30 grams of processed meat a person ate per day, their overall risk of stomach cancer went up by 9%. Eating that same extra 30 grams a day was also linked to a 13% higher risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma.
A standard single slice of regular deli-sliced ham or lunch meat averages around 28 grams, according to USDA data and nutritional tracking databases.
An extra 20 grams of white meat, such as chicken and turkey, was linked to a 12% higher risk of cancer in the main body of the stomach. (iStock)
An extra 20 grams of white meat, such as chicken or turkey, was linked to a 12% higher risk of cancer in the main body of the stomach, the researchers noted.
The study also revealed differences between men and women. For male participants, only processed meat showed a clear, statistically significant link to a higher risk of stomach cancer. For female participants, however, eating both processed meat and white meat was linked to an increased risk.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE HEALTH STORIES
These findings align with global health benchmarks, particularly those established by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer.
The agency has long classified processed meat as a known human carcinogen, primarily due to its strong, well-documented links to colorectal cancer.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER
However, health organizations have also consistently pointed to a potential, yet less definitive, relationship between these meats and cancers of the stomach.
Eating 30 grams of processed meat a day, or the equivalent to one slice of ham, was linked to a 13% higher risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma. (iStock)
Further scientific investigation is needed to confirm the findings and to account for other underlying risk factors, such as certain stomach infections, which could interact with dietary habits.
TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ
A key limitation of the study is its reliance on self-reported diets, which can sometimes lead to inaccuracies in how participants recall their meat consumption over time, the researchers noted.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
The findings were published in the International Journal of Cancer.
Fox News Digital reached out to the researchers requesting comment.
Use left and right arrow keys to navigate between menu items.
Use escape to exit the menu.
Sign Up
Create a free account to access exclusive content, play games, solve puzzles, test your pop-culture knowledge and receive special offers.
Already have an account? Login
-
Missouri7 minutes agoTwo airlifted after serious crash in Cole County
-
Montana10 minutes agoClark Fork River remains central to Missoula’s identity, conservation groups say
-
Nebraska15 minutes agoMiss Nebraska festivities kick off with opening ceremonies
-
Nevada22 minutes agoHillel of Northern Nevada Builds Community at the University
-
New Hampshire24 minutes agoNew Hampshire Pummels Altoona with 14 Runs on 18 Hits
-
New Jersey30 minutes ago‘This Cruelty is Intentional’: The New Jersey Lawmakers Fighting to Shut Down Delaney Hall
-
North Carolina35 minutes ago
Former staffer claims sexual harassment in ethics complaint against NC insurance commissioner
-
New Mexico37 minutes agoNew Mexico Highlands University president sues school
