By Angela E. Pometto
Herald Staff Writer
(From the issue of 12/23/04)

Children like Mia don’t spend much time on earth, said Michelle Tygielski of her daughter, Mia. And mothers like Tygielski are hard to find.

Tygielski, member of St. Mark Parish in Vienna, was honored recently at the Divine Mercy Gala with the Our Lady of Guadalupe Award for her courage and love for her special needs daughter.

Mia suffered from amniotic band syndrome. While in the womb, wire-like bands floated in the fluid and severed her head so badly that her brain grew outside her skull.

Dr. John Bruchalski, of Tepeyac Family Center in Fairfax, remembers the first sonogram taken of Mia. The couple that was to adopt her was in the room watching, but when the image revealed the baby’s brain floating in amniotic fluid, the couple walked away.

When it was time to bring Mia into the world, Bruchalski knew that she had no skull. Mia was determined to leave the womb, though, at the first possible moment, she stuck her arm out of the birth canal, he said. They brought in a priest who was able to baptize the child’s hand before Bruchalski performed the cesarean section.

"Mia decided to dance to the tune of her own drum," Bruchalski said.

She was expected to remain in a vegetative state after surviving birth. Now, 8-year-old Mia goes to school, laughs, smiles, rides horses, swims, plays baseball, makes sounds and even walks.

"She continues to rise," Tygielski said.

Two years ago, Mia had surgery that gave her a covering over her brain. Before this surgery, Mia was in almost constant pain.

Mia wakes up early, in her mothers arms, usually laughing or smiling. She spends her days at a pediatric center while Tygielski is at work. This gives Mia a social life and many activities to keep her busy. Another one of Mia’s dreams recently came true when she was allowed to take the big yellow bus to school, just like other kids.

"It is intimidating, the number of hurdles you need to jump as a mother of a special needs child," Tygielski said, adding that she would not have been able to do it all without the help of her parents.

"We have gone beyond the realm of possibility," Tygielski said. Since the moment Mia was born, she has continued to achieve one goal after another, from holding her head up, to discovering that she is in control of mobility and starting to use of voice. "These milestones were not supposed to be attainable," she said.

"Medicine is stumped by her prognosis," Bruchalski said.