99 Balloons
This is a tender loving story of Eliot Hartman Mooney who was born with Trisomy 18, a life-threatening genetic disorder.
The following is taken from Oprah.com:
Two months before he was born, Eliot was diagnosed with Trisomy 18—a genetic disorder with a very low survival rate. His parents, Matt and Ginny, began writing letters to him daily.
“Dear Eliot: Right now you are two months from being born,” Matt wrote in one letter. “Doctors tell us that you won’t likely make it to birth. Your mom and I are praying against that. We’re praying for healing. We are praying for nothing less than a miracle. You’re our first child, and the day of your birth couldn’t come sooner.”
Against the odds, Eliot survived his birth. “You are already a miracle to us,” Matt wrote that day.
Every day that Eliot lived, he beat the odds. The median lifespan for children with Trisomy 18 is just five to 15 days—but Eliot just kept on surviving.
Matt and Ginny’s letters to their infant son continued for 99 precious days. They turned their letters and literally thousands of photos of Eliot into a video that has now been seen nearly a million times on YouTube.
Watch their moving video celebrating Eliot’s life.
5 Responses to “99 Balloons”
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Thanks so much for sharing about the wonderful spotlight shown on Trisomy 18 and children living with it’s impact, by Oprah show. Some good news — there is a scheduled update (and follow up interview with Eliot’s parents) on Oprah again TODAY! We hope that our efforts to get more national attention for our cause will help serve all families affected by Trisomy 18 in the future. Come visit http://www.trisomy18.org/eliot for updates and to learn more about famlies like the the Mooney’s!
this is so beautiful…thank you for sharing
i don’t know eliot’s family, in fact i live on the other side of the planet, but i keep a picture of eliot as my screensaver and everyday it reminds me of how i want to live my life
i saw this video with me sister and this is a beautiful story and the viseo is so beautiful and i couldnt stop crying it was amazing to watch that is teh best video i ever seen
i saw this video with me sister and this is a beautiful story and the viseo is so beautiful and i couldnt stop crying it was amazing to watch that is teh best video i ever seen