'Miracle' Babies to Lead Walk

Canton's Emily Dobson says her 1-year-old twins are miracles.

Born just shy of 27 weeks gestation, Ryder and Everley didn’t breathe right away. The day after the twins were born, doctors at  told Dobson and her husband that they should take their son, who had a brain bleed, off life support.

“Because of the brain bleed, they said he might not have a quality of life later,” Dobson said. “He might be a vegetable. He might not walk or talk. They didn’t know what his outcome would be.”

Ryder improved, and the rollercoaster began. Everley was transported to  for surgery on her bowels and five days later, her heart. Back at Northside, one of Ryder’s lungs collapsed and doctors discovered a hole in the second.

“He was dropping,” Dobson said. “They could not stabilize him. They called us in and said, ‘We’ve done everything we can do. Now, all we can do is wait.’ Every day, we just prayed they would live another day. At this point with Ryder, we didn’t know if he would live another minute.”

But, in June 2011, three months after the twins were born, Everley went home. The next month, her brother joined her. He came home with a feeding tube, oxygen and a monitor. He came off the feeding tube within 30 days and came off oxygen in February. Now, he’s just on a monitor at night to keep track of his heart rate and oxygen level. Despite two brain bleeds—one grade four and another grade three—Ryder has no signs of brain damage.

“He is a miracle,” Dobson said. “I cannot even describe how hard it was to go every day and watch your kid fight for his life. It’s indescribable how awful it is. But, what a blessing we’ve been given. We’re just so thankful.”

This year, the Dobsons are the ambassador family for the March of Dimes March for Babies in Canton. It’s something that Dobson said she is honored to be a part of.

“I want to be able to help those families when you feel like there’s no hope,” she said. “You feel so helpless. A mom is supposed to make a boo-boo better. I couldn’t make anything better. I wasn’t allowed to rub them. Because they were so premature, it was painful for me to stroke them. It would hurt them. It really made me appreciate every little thing.”

The walk is tonight at . Registration is at 5:30 p.m., the ceremony begins around 6:40 p.m., and the walk will start at 7 p.m. The Dobsons will lead the 4-mile walk around the park. Forty teams have signed up to walk, and the organization hopes to raise $100,000.

“We’re thinking this is going to be one of our larger walks, so we’re really excited,” said Michele Beal, the walk’s organizer.

After the walk, there will be a picnic with food provided by , entertainment provided by South 107, inflatable toys for kids to play on, and the official clown will make an appearance.

“There’s going to be a lot to do,” Beal said. “There’s going to be a lot for a walk, I think.”