MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A miracle is a gift you just can’t explain.
“A gift is not something you open. It’s something I feel inside like God gave me her. I feel like that’s the best gift of all,” said Starla Padgett, a Mid-South mother.
Padgett’s gift is her 10-year-old daughter, Alexis.
“My little miracle,” said Padgett, "My uterus reputured, so she had brain damage at birth."
A miracle with a strenuous start. Doctors diagnosed Alexis as brain dead.
“The first week, there was no activity. Then, they did it again. There was brain activity. I knew right then. I said, ‘She’s going to make it,’” said Padgett. “Honestly, they thought she wouldn’t make it to her first birthday. She was on a ventilator, oxygen, and here we are at 10-years-old...”
Alexis has cerebral palsy. Doctors believed she’d never walk or talk, but she’s gifted her family with so much more.
“Every day is a gift,” said Padgett. “She has taught me patience, how to love harder, and never take a day for granted. She’s a fighter. She’s determined. You see it in her.”
Others see it too. That is why this holiday, My Town Miracles, Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, and Cerner Charitable Foundation got Alexis special gift of her own, an adaptive tricycle.
“She rides it here in therapy. She asks for it specifically on her dynavox,” said Padgett. “This is like the only thing she’s ever requested or wanted out of everything…In this bike, I see a totally different little girl. She’s just thriving.”
She is a little girl with a miracle birth, blessing others with the gift of courage and gratitude.
“I think, thank God. You answer prayers. He’s truly the one that’s made this happen. I feel really blessed just to be her mother. God picked me to be her mother,” said Padgett.