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Eastpointe Baby Survives Rare Disorder, Despite The Odds

EASTPOINTE (WWJ) - This week little Grant Hasse of Eastpointe will celebrate his first birthday. And, in a season of thanks and miracles, his parents say they have been blessed with both.

Grant was born with "CHAOS," Congenital High Airway Obstruction Syndrome -- with only a handful of cases of this rare disorder are noted in medical journals, with about 50 cases reported in the entire world.

baby grant
Grant (WWJ Photo/Marie Osborne)

Eighteen weeks into the pregnancy, 31-year-old Andrea Hasse was told at a routine examination, there was trouble.  "The doctor came over and sat on my bed and held my hand and said your baby has a serious problem."  She and her husband, 34-year-old Tadd Hasse, were devastated.

After a difficult pregnancy, Grant was born at an early 27 weeks at University of Michigan Hospital.  "We were lucky, this surgery turned out well for both mother and baby," said Dr. George Mychaliska, the fetal surgeon charged with placing a trachea in Grant's throat.

The cost of Grant's surgery just shy of a million dollars. He spent months in the hospital and was sent home on a ventilator.

Andrea has insurance through her job as a school teacher, but finances have been a struggle because of the many trips to Ann Arbor and several emergencies with Grant.

Today, Grant is a rambunctious 1-year-old, moving everywhere.

His parents hope to doctors will be able to establish an airway for Grant in the spring.

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