Sunshine on a Ranney Day is at it again and we are excited to break ground on a new project for Samantha. This spirited young woman with the beautiful ear-to-ear smile is Samantha Danielle Caldwell. She entered this world by her sister’s side on October 14, 1998, weighing in at 2lbs, 1oz and was12inches long. She and her twin sister, Nicole, arrived at 24 weeks gestation. Samantha was born first and is older by two minutes!
Samantha was tiny; but, holding her own until she had a grade IV hemorrhage at only three days old. Tragically, this lead to a snowball of illnesses in the NICU. Samantha remained in the hospital for four months before finally being able to go home with her family. She fought diligently, battling many health conditions including apnea and bradycardia bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), a detached retina in her right eye, an open patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) requiring surgery to close, seizure disorder, and an intraventricular hemorrhage resulting in hydrocephalus. She required surgery for shunt placement, respirators and multiple blood transfusions all before she could go home. Since then, Samantha has continued to endure twenty five surgeries and numerous complications. She is diagnosed with cerebral palsy (CP) and is spastic diplegic. This means the CP affects both lower limbs, hips, and pelvis more than the upper body. Samantha’s muscles are very tight in both legs and her left arm. She continues to overcome daily challenges that come with this diagnosis, as well as many life-threatening complications requiring surgery, hospitalizations and painful medical procedures. Despite all that, she prevails with bold smiles and a will to succeed.