MIRACLE MONDAYS – Colette Gaston

When Colette Gaston developed Ulcerative colitis, the Gaston family was unprepared for how fast her condition would worsen.

“She was stricken suddenly,” said Joanne Gaston, Colette’s Mom. “No family history. No previous history. Her conditioned worsened and she developed blood clots, sepsis, pulmonary embolism, spontaneous pneumothorax, respiratory failure, acute kidney injury and multisystem organ failure.”

Colette was given a 40% chance of survival.

“The hardest part was watching her suffer and feeling helpless to take away her pain and suffering,” Joanne said. “It was hard watching the fear and sadness of her siblings and trying to deal with my own fear of losing her.”

At one point, the Gaston family was told that Colette may not survive. “I still remember her telling me that she didn’t want to die.”

Miraculously, Colette survived. “She is truly a miracle. She defied all odds. We were told she would never be off blood thinner but she was able to stop just six months after returning home. We were told she would never be able to stop dialysis but she was able to stop that 5 months after returning home. She had to learn how to walk again. That was an extremely emotional moment when the physical therapist sent us a video of her walking!”

Today, Colette is 19 years old. She enjoys pets, outdoor activities, the National Treasure movies and spending time with family!

“We are so thankful for the prayers and outpouring of compassion that we got from so many people! We are also thankful for St. John’s. I feel the staff did everything they knew to do for her.”

Do you have a miracle child that was treated as HSHS St. John’s Children’s Hospital? Facebook message us or email dave.newton@hshs.org and tell us your story! #miraclemondays