Parents always do their best to protect their children, and these parents did something special for their daughter. Little Vienna Brookshaw was born to her mom, Celine Casey, in April 2021 in the United Kingdom. When Casey first saw Vienna, she noticed a birthmark on her forehead, between her eyebrows.
The birthmark, called congenital melanocytic nevus (CMN), didn’t affect Vienna’s health, but her mom was worried it might bother her emotionally as she grew up. CMN is a condition where a baby is born with a group of harmless pigment cells, and they could have grown as Vienna got older.
The condition Vienna has is rare, and nobody could predict how much the birthmark would grow as she got older. Her mom, Casey, didn’t want Vienna to face any challenges because of it as she grew up.
Right away, Casey asked the doctors if they could do anything about Vienna’s birthmark. She worried that if they didn’t remove it, Vienna might be mad at her parents later. Casey, the caring mom, said, “We love watching her grow and can’t wait until she can share her thoughts. We’d love her no matter what, even if we kept the birthmark.”
Casey wanted to remove Vienna’s birthmark because when Vienna was a baby, people stared at her. Casey saw that others treated her baby differently from other babies. This made her want to get the birthmark removed even more.
The NHS (National Health Service) said no to the surgery because they usually say no to surgeries that aren’t needed for a person’s physical health. They thought the surgery was just for looks, not necessary. So, Casey started a fundraising campaign to get money for the surgery from other places. In just 24 hours, generous people donated $52,000. But this wasn’t enough because hospital costs went up a lot because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The young parents needed $27,000 more for the surgery.
They asked for help on GoFundMe again to pay for the extra costs for their daughter’s surgery to remove the birthmark.
The worried mom said, “Everyone has things they feel unsure about in their body. The doctor said it wouldn’t affect Vienna’s mental health right now. But we didn’t see it that way. She’s starting school at three, and little kids are smart; they notice things like that.”
Now, Vienna is two years old, and her birthmark has been taken off completely. The only sign left is a small scar on her forehead. Casey, her mom, often tells how ‘gorgeous’ her baby girl is and gives updates on her daughter’s healing process.
Even after the birthmark was removed, the parents traveled to London to have the surgeon check how well Vienna’s small scar on her forehead had healed. They wanted to ensure she didn’t require further surgeries or treatments after the three she already had. Thankfully, she’s now a healthy two-year-old and doesn’t need any more medical care!
We’re sending lots of good wishes to little Vienna. We hope she stays healthy always! Feel free to share her story with others so they can learn about her journey too!