Nicole is a seven year old who was adopted by her parents.  She's one of five siblings.  Nikki functions at the level of a baby.  She's not able to walk or move about, and she has seizures several times a day.  She's also blind.

 Hydranencephaly indicates that a child is missing much or most of their brain.  It is a condition in which part of the brain mantle (cortical plate and hemispheric white matter) has been damaged, liquified, and resorbed. It can be caused by exposure to drugs or infection before birth.  Less than fifty percent of babies born with the defect survive; and of those, most don't live past one month.

Nikki is a second grader and attends public school two days a week.  She also goes to Sunday school and enjoys it.  She's had many surgeries and receives botox injections for tight muscles.

Many gifts which are normally appropriate for a seven year old would not be useful for Nikki, but she does enjoy videos and  music.

For email and snail mail addresses, personal web site URL, medical fund information, and a current list of interests and hobbies, visit our "Kids List" page.

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