Herron Abney III, affectionately known as Tripp, is defying all odds despite being told he has a 1% chance of surviving. Tripp, who was born at barely 21 weeks and 3 days of gestation to parents Herron Abney II and Trashinda Gavin, recently celebrated his first birthday despite the doubts of the medical community.
Gavin thinks she may have gone into early labor since she fell down the stairs a few days before he was born. Yet Tripp, who was born weighing 15.3 ounces and eventually discharged from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit five months later, is now healthy and happy, and he has inspired his family.
At his birthday party last week, the Chickasaw family decked out in Superman costumes and celebrated superhero style.
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Gavin told Fox10, “I want to thank all the nurses that looked after him in the NICU, all the doctors that had to oversee him and nurse practitioners and any other specialists, everybody that had to work with him.”
The boy’s aunt, Telisha Sims, also remarked, “I just want to tell everybody to be an advocate for your family member. Don’t just accept the first diagnosis that the doctors give. Give your family members a chance and we’re looking at a miracle. This baby was not supposed to live.. but God.”
Tripp was born at 21 weeks and 3 days, not far behind Alabama’s Curtis Means, who was born at 21 weeks and 1 day in July 2020 and is included in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s most prematurely surviving infant.
