Mother Beth Fair-Lawton (31), according to her, was assured by the midwives that it is normal for babies not to open their eyes immediately after a caesarean section. Since the British woman also gave birth to her first son in this way, she had doubts and insisted on examinations. Finally, she learned the terrible news that her newborn was suffering from an extremely rare disease.
- Mother Beth noticed that her son Rudy was not opening his eyes after birth.
- A newborn was born with a rare condition that left him without eyes.
- Rudy also has problems with hearing loss and swallowing.
- The family is collecting money for special aids that would improve Rudy’s life.
Beth and her husband Andrew were happily expecting the arrival of their second son, Rudy. During her pregnancy, the former employee of a software company had no complications and was scheduled for a caesarean section on January 2, 2025.
Although the surgery went without a hitch, as the hours ticked by Beth began to wonder why Rudy wasn’t opening his eyes. “The midwives said it was completely normal. I didn’t believe them because my older son, Jax, was also born by C-section. I had a bad feeling. I asked several times to check it, but they ignored me. It took three days before they started taking me seriously“, she stated.
Beth called for more paramedics and tried to open Rudy’s eyes herself. It was then that her worst fears were confirmed when she discovered that her son probably had no eyes or very small eyes. He was eventually diagnosed with bilateral anophthalmia – a very rare condition in which a child is born without eyes or optic nerves.
Further genetic tests showed that Rudy has a mutation of the SOX2 gene, which occurs in only one in 250,000 cases. As a result, the little boy also has moderate hearing loss and swallowing problems, so they have to feed him through a tube. “Our life turned into a series of hospital visits. He was given hearing aids and had surgery to insert expanders into his eye sockets to preserve his facial shape and allow him to get prosthetics in the future,” Beth described their journey.
Older brother Jax has become a great role model for Rudy, who is now 16 months old. “He can’t open his eyes, but he can see with his hands. Jax puts toys in them and makes him laugh. They roll around on the floor together and play the piano. Rudy is a very resilient and confident baby. He is developmentally delayed, but recently learned to sit and clap. He is gradually starting to babble and I hope he will start talking soon. When I approach him, he reaches out and feels my face to see if it’s me“, explained the grateful mother.
The parents are currently raising money for special equipment that could help Rudy fully enjoy family life. “We are currently waiting for swallowing reflex tests and he is on the waiting list for an operation to lengthen his eyelids a bit. Despite all the worries, he has been approved to start kindergarten, which will definitely give him the opportunity to become independent. We don’t know what the future holds, but Rudy brings us a lot of joy every day. We celebrate his every progress, whatever it may be,” Beth concluded.
