Wall of Angels

Donna Jean was a very beautiful two and a half year old with long, strawberry blond curls cascading down her back. She had big brown eyes fringed with long lashes that women would envy. She acted like a normal two year old, and to just look at her you wouldn't think there was anything wrong with her. But there was. My daughter was born with Hydrocephalus(fluid on the brain. )Commonly called "Water head syndrome". At barely three months of age she had to undergo immediate surgery. They inserted a shunt(a small straw like device) into the base of her spine.

The surgery was a success, thank God!The shunt did it's job perfectly , draining the fluid from her tiny brain. She even began to recover milestones that had been lost!I couldn't have been any more thankful, and on top of the world as I was at that very moment!That all seemed to slip away though when I took her back for her six month follow up, and every couple of weeks after that. The shunt was not working properly!

The Neurologist explained there would be several more surgeries , that as the infant grew, the shunt had to be replaced with a bigger one as needed. She had outgrown this one and it had to be replaced immediately!She eventually had to endure six different surgeries, each time being shunt replacement. I just walked the floors, prayed, and cried each time, but today was different. I could feel it.

What was to be another shunt replacement procedure went horribly wrong!My baby girl died!The shunt had blocked during surgery causing the fluid to continuously build on her brain. Her brain began to swell causing severe brain damage. She went into a coma, her pupils fixed and dilated, there was no response. She was declared brain dead, and after so many hours they took her off of life support. She died on July 17th, 1990. She was only two, and a half years old. The Neurologists were shocked, and the one began to wipe his eyes, exiting the room. The nurses had all loved her too.

I had never suffered such tremendous loss!I was devastated!There is nothing you can really say at a time like that. I thanked God for what time I did get to spend with her. I brought that precious creature into this world, and was holding her when she departed this world.

About a year or so later, I got a letter in the mail from my daughter's Neurologist urging me to come and see him right away. I dreaded the very thought of walking back into that hospital!But something inside me told me to go. So I did.

When I arrived, I noticed in the front lobby this large crowd of people gathered around a newly painted wall. I thought what is going on?I walked up to the crowd, trying to catch a glimpse of what they were going on about. At the top aof this huge wall, it said"Wall of Angels. "My heart caught in my throat when halfway down I saw my daughter's tiny hand prints!Above  her hand prints was her name in big gold letters, along with her date of birth, and date she died. I couldn't hold back the tears anymore!This was why he had wanted me to come, to see the wall of angels, including my own!