Children's Miracle Network Meet Our Children's Miracle Network Champion

Omar Gonzalez has faced many challenges in his nine years, yet defied significant odds to not just survive, but thrive. 

Omar was diagnosed with Trisomy 13 before birth.  Also known as Patau Syndrome, this rare and serious genetic condition is caused when a baby has an extra chromosome 13.  It leads to heart defects, cleft lip and cleft palate, weak muscle tone, poor vision, and brain and spinal cord abnormalities.  Many babies born with Patau Syndrome die in their first days of life and only 5-10 percent live past their first year. 

Not Omar.  Immediately after birth, Omar needed a two-week stay in Texas Children’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).  He later had to be re-admitted to Texas Children’s due to breathing problems.  Although he has faced many challenges over the years, he eventually grew stronger and his health improved. 

Today, Omar is home-schooled and learning to communicate through assistive technology.  He receives physical, aquatic, speech, occupational, and equine therapy.  He enjoys music and mall walking in his gait trainer where he is often greeted by other mall walkers who know him.  Although Omar receives most of his nutrition through a feeding tube, he sometimes gets to enjoy food by mouth. 

Your support for Children’s Miracle Network makes high-quality healthcare possible for thousands of children like Omar.