Storms of life no match for baby's awesome endurance

A Pembroke Pines family is giving thanks for the health of their daughter, the smallest baby ever to survive a multiple organ transplant

By Ashley Fantz

Last year, a few days after Thanksgiving, Natalia Hendricks made her determined entrance into the world.

Born three months early at Memorial Regional Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital in Hollywood by emergency C-section, Natasha weighed little more than a pound.

HAPPY B'DAY: Multiple organ transplant survivor Natalia Hendricks, who'll be 1 on Monday, with mom Natasha. BOB SHANLEY/PALM BEACH POST

''When I first saw my daughter, this small thing hooked up to machines, all the wires and monitors, I didn't know if I would be able to hold her,'' recalled mother Natasha Hendricks of Pembroke Pines.

In the sleep-deprived days that followed, Natasha and her husband Rogelio Hendricks listened to doctors gently warn them that children so small usually do not survive.

A nurse taught them how to create a pouch with a button-down shirt, and they cradled Natalia, kangaroo-like, for days, the child's determined heartbeat feeding their hope.

Then, things got worse.

Natalia developed a potentially fatal infection called necrotizing enterocolitis. The condition, which occurs in premature babies, caused a complete breakdown of her digestive system, which then overtaxed her liver, spleen, pancreas, and stomach.

''It was a disastrous domino,'' said Dr. Tomoaki Kato, a University of Miami Jackson Memorial transplant surgeon. Jackson placed Natalia on a donor waiting list, and not long afterward, a 3 a.m. phone call alerted them to a potential donor. The organs proved to be a match. But another obstacle faced them.

Hurricane Charley hit Aug. 13, the night Kato was scheduled to perform the 12-hour surgery on his tiniest, youngest patient ever.

''A member of the team went out in the storm -- because no one wanted to go outside and pick up the organs,'' recalled Kato. ``We went ahead; It was a very intense night.''

Unlike mature patients, an infant's organs are close together and connected by dozens of fragile, microscopic vessels. In a silent operating room -- the way Kato prefers it -- they worked over the tiny girl for 12 hours ''Of course, I was nervous,'' said the surgeon, who specializes in pediatric transplantation.

As their daughter's surgery progressed, the Hendricks returned home to Pembroke Pines to rest. Married for seven years, the Hendricks have children from a previous marriage but Natalia is their first child together.

Natasha Hendricks, a 32-year-old market analyst for American Airlines, was recovering from two previous pregnancies -- a miscarriage and another child who died early in gestation from severe defects. She viewed her pregnancy as a miracle, a sign that she was meant to be a mother.

''My husband and I did not doubt that Natalia would live and we would have a healthy daughter,'' she said.

The morning after the surgery, South Floridians awoke to find they had been spared most of Hurricane Charley's destruction. The Hendrickses awoke to even better news.

''It was amazing, so incredible. We went to see her,'' said Natasha Hendricks. ''For me, the best thing was when the nurse picked her up and opened one of her eyes.'' For the first time since her birth, the yellow, jaundiced look was gone. ''When I saw they were white . . . it was the best feeling,'' she said. Natalia came home on Oct. 8.

She still gets 10 different medications every day, and organ rejection is still possible. But, approaching her first birthday, Natalia weighs more than 16 pounds. She's learning to sit up, making lots of cooing noises, and reaching out for everything in sight.

''She's got a lot of personality,'' said Natasha Hendricks. ``And more strength than anyone can imagine.''

Copyright © 2004 The Miami Herald.

This article posted December 5, 2004.