Parents will go to great lengths for their kids, especially when it comes to keeping them safe. These parents were no exception. Read on to find out what they did for their daughter.
One in20,000.
When baby Vienna Brookshaw was born in April 2021, her mom, Celine Casey, was thrilled — until she noticed something surprising.
Born in the U.K., Vienna had a noticeable dark mark between her eyebrows. Celine felt a wave of worry. Was there something wrong during her pregnancy?
Fortunately, doctors assured her that the birthmark was harmless. However, Celine couldn’t shake the concern about how it might impact her daughter’s feelings as she grew older.
The rare mark was identified as congenital melanocytic nevus (CMN) — a condition that affects only around 20,000 babies. It occurs due to a group of pigment cells that develop before birth and usually expand as the child matures.
Even though it’s not harmful, the location of the birthmark meant Vienna would likely encounter curious looks, awkward inquiries, and potentially hurtful remarks — particularly from strangers who don’t think before they talk.
That’s when her parents decided to make a significant change.
Vienna’s situation.
The condition is uncommon, and there was no way to predict how much the birthmark would grow as the little girl aged. Her mother was determined that she didn’t want her daughter to face that challenge as she got older.
Casey quickly consulted doctors about options for her daughter’s birthmark. She expressed that if they didn’t remove it, her daughter might hold it against them in the future.
The worried mother expressed, “We love watching her grow on her journey, and we can’t wait for the day she grows up and can speak for herself so we can hear her thoughts. We’d love her no matter what, even if we kept the birthmark.”
The reason behind her determination was that when their daughter was a baby, Casey and her partner noticed people staring at her. She also observed that her baby was treated differently compared to other infants, which made her even more driven to have the birthmark removed.
The NHS denied the surgery, so the mother had to seek other options for assistance. She started a crowdfunding campaign to gather funds for the surgery to be done privately.
Surgery was denied.
The NHS turned down the surgery as they typically reject any procedures that aren’t essential for a person’s physical health. They viewed the surgery as cosmetic rather than necessary.
In just 24 hours, the parents managed to raise $52,000 for the surgery. Sadly, this amount fell short since hospital expenses had surged after the COVID-19 pandemic, and the young parents needed an additional $27,000 for the surgery.
They reached out to GoFundMe again to cover the extra costs for their daughter’s birthmark removal surgery.
“Everyone has insecurities about their bodies, and the doctor said he’d take that into account, but with Vienna, it wasn’t going to impact her mental health at this moment. However, we didn’t see it that way; she’s starting school when she’s three, and younger kids are really observant, they point out things like that,” the concerned mother explained.
Now, the little girl is three years old, and her birthmark has been completely removed, with the only sign of it being a small scar on her forehead. Her mother Casey often shares updates on her daughter’s recovery and comments on how ‘beautiful’ her little girl is.
After the birthmark was taken off, the couple went to London so the doctor could check how well the scar was healing and see if Brookshaw would need any more surgeries after the three she already had. But for now, she is a healthy three-year-old and doesn’t need any more treatment!
We are sending all our best wishes to little Brookshaw. We hope she always stays in great health! Please share this with others so they can learn about her story, too!
Let’s keep the victims and their families in our thoughts and prayers. Rest in peace.