Former 'Preemie' Raises Money to Help New Babies

Dec. 24, 2006 — -- The holiday season reminds 19-year-old Mckenzie Brodnick just how thankful she is to be alive.

She spent the first few weeks of her life in the neonatal intensive care unit at Georgetown University Hospital. She was born six weeks premature and not expected to live.

"To see these babies in an incubator and to think I was one of them? I can't picture it," Brodnick said.

A recent report shows one in eight American babies is born prematurely. And according to the March of Dimes, the number of "preemies" born this year topped an unprecedented half million.

It can happen to any mother, even without obvious risk factors. Caring for these babies is expensive, but Brodnick has found a way to give back -- by starting a charity that raises money for their care.

"When she lived at birth, I thought, 'This is a special kid,'" said Brodnick's mother, Maggie Brodnick.

It's hard for her mom to believe how small she was just hours after her birth. Her parents held their breath as they watched their tiny baby struggle.

"I'd tell her we love her very much," said Al Brodnick, her father. "She has a wonderful sister at home."

When Brodnick was brought to the NICU, she was given only a 10 percent chance of survival. Nineteen years later, those odds have dramatically improved to almost 100 percent.

Dr. Siva Subramanian is the chief of Georgetown's NICU and the doctor who saved Brodnick's life. He placed her on what was then an experimental and risky heart and lung machine.