Sarah Love holds her son Lincoln – Courtesy Sarah LoveBecause a stranger had the mixture of compassion, bravery, and instincts to speak up, a little boy will live to become an adult.
Little did Sarah Love know, but her newborn baby was suffering from a rare genetic disease that might have taken his life. Yes, he was jaundiced at birth, but pediatricians at a wellness checkup were reticent to ascribe it to anything serious, and suggested she get 6-week-old Lincoln a bit of sunlight.
It was at a trip to an amusement park with their big beautiful family, of which Lincoln was the 6th addition, that Love noticed a stranger taking inordinately long glances at her newborn.
Before they could move on, the stranger decided to act on his instincts.
“He introduced himself and mentioned that he was a first responder,” Love told Good Morning America. “He said he noticed Lincoln and how very jaundiced he was, and he didn’t want to scare us … but he just thought it might be a good idea for Lincoln to get some medical attention.”
Love would later say he only gave up that he was a firefighter in a neighboring county, but she took his advice seriously even though he didn’t say his name.
Calling the same pediatrician who earlier had dismissed Licncoln’s jaundice, she referred them to a nearby hospital for some blood work. After arriving, little Lincoln was hooked up to IV fluids, before it was eventually recommended that he be transferred to a specialty hospital, Nemours Children’s Hospital in Orlando.
At Nemours came tests and several misdiagnoses, until it was identified as Alagille Syndrome, a rare genetic condition that affects the liver and heart, and was responsible for Lincoln’s deep-set eyes, pointed chin, and yellowed skin.
There is no cure for the condition, but pharmaceuticals can help patients live long lives in spite of it. Love had always been slightly on edge over Lincoln’s appearance, but said it was the stranger’s comments that pushed her over it.
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“It was that extra added bit of encouragement that we needed,” she said, adding to GMA that she’s learned from the experience how there are “no silly questions when it comes to your baby’s health.”
Depending on how he responds to medication, Lincoln may eventually require a liver transplant, but will have to work alongside a nutritionist for the rest of his life to ensure he and his family can address nutrient deficiencies that he may develop.
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Love said that she uses this story to raise awareness online and in her community for Alagille Syndrome, and how to look out for it in infants. Her outreach is also meant to try and find the stranger who stood up to say something when he believed he ought to.
“I don’t think there are enough words that can honestly describe how thankful our family is. Thank you from the bottom of my heart,” Love said of her message to the stranger. “It was a tough thing to go through, but because of that one small thing that he did, look at how much of an impact he had on Lincoln, on our family. I just want to say thank you.”
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