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The Nebraska woman was born with a rare condition called hydranencephaly
A Nebraska woman born without a brain has defied all medical expectations — celebrating her 20th birthday despite doctors once predicting she wouldn’t live beyond the age of four.
Alex Simpson, from Omaha, Nebraska, was born with hydranencephaly, a rare congenital condition in which much of the brain’s cerebral hemispheres are absent and replaced with cerebrospinal fluid. Her parents, Shawn and Lorena Simpson, spoke to KETV News about their daughter’s incredible milestone.
“[Hydranencephaly] means that her brain is not there,” Shawn explained. “Technically, she has about half the size of my pinky finger of her cerebellum in the back part of her brain — but that’s all that’s there.”
Doctors initially told the Simpsons that Alex was unlikely to survive past age four. Two decades later, her parents describe her life as a living miracle — one sustained by love and faith.
When asked what they believe has kept their daughter alive, both parents gave the same answer: “Love.”
While Alex cannot see or hear, her parents insist she recognizes their presence. “You can see that when I went up there and talked to her a little bit ago, she was looking for me,” Shawn said, mimicking her eye movements.
Faith, he added, has been the family’s anchor through the years. “Twenty years ago, we were scared, but faith, I think, is really what kept us alive,” he shared.
Lorena simply called her daughter “a fighter.”
Alex’s younger brother, SJ, 14, also spoke about his bond with his sister. “When people ask about my family, the first thing I start with is Alex — my disabled sister,” he told KETV.
Like his parents, SJ believes Alex has an intuitive awareness of her surroundings. “Say somebody’s stressed around her, nothing will even happen — it could be completely silent, but Alex will know. She’ll feel something,” he said.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, hydranencephaly affects between one in 5,000 to one in 10,000 pregnancies, and most infants with the condition do not survive past their first year of life.
For the Simpson family, Alex’s 20th birthday is not just a celebration, it’s a testament to resilience, love, and unwavering faith in the face of impossible odds.
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