A picture began circulating in November. It should be "The Picture of the Year," or perhaps, "Picture of the Decade." It won't be. In fact, unless you obtained a copy of the US paper which published it, you probably would never have seen it.

The picture is that of a 21-week-old unborn baby named Samuel Alexander Armas, who is being operated on by a surgeon named Joseph Bruner.

The baby was diagnosed with spina bifida and would not survive if removed from his mother's womb. Little Samuel's mother, Julie Armas, is an obstetrics nurse in Atlanta. She knew of Dr. Bruner's remarkable
surgical procedure. Practicing at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, he performs these special operations while the baby is still in the womb.

During the procedure, the doctor removes the uterus via C-section and makes a small incision to operate on the baby. As Dr. Bruner completed the surgery on Samuel, the little guy reached his tiny, but fully developed hand through the incision and firmly grasped the surgeon's finger. Dr. Bruner was reported as saying that when his finger was grasped, it was the most emotional moment of his life, and that for an instant during the procedure he was just frozen, totally immobile.

The photograph captures this amazing event with perfect clarity. The editors titled the picture, "Hand of Hope." The text explaining the
picture begins, "The tiny hand of 21-week-old fetus Samuel Alexander Armas emerges from the mother's uterus to grasp the finger of Dr. Joseph Bruner as if thanking the doctor for the gift of life." Little
Samuel's mother said they "wept for days" when they saw the picture. She said, "The photo reminds us pregnancy isn't about disability or an illness,
it's about a little person."

Samuel was born in perfect health, the operation 100 percent successful.

There is nothing else to say. Thanks for the beautiful picture.....Charlie

Rick

At first reading the caption and seeing the pic, I was appauled. Prepared to be angered by a political or moral statement, I was quickly moved to compassion by the strength of your statement. I've just found another reason why I like you.

Thanks,
anthony

Amazing! Thanks for posting this Rick.

The rest of the story from Snopes.

Origins: The pictures accompanying the text quoted above are real in that they are indeed photographs taken during a revolutionary fetal procedure undertaken on 19 August 1999 to fix the spina bifida lesion of a 21-week-old fetus in the womb. The operation was performed by a surgical team at Vanderbilt University in Nashville which developed a technique for correcting fetal problems in mid-pregnancy by temporarily removing the uterus, draining the amniotic fluid, performing surgery on the tiny fetus, then restoring the uterus back inside the mother. The patient shown above, Samuel Armas, was the 54th fetus operated on by the surgical team; Dr. Joseph Bruner, the surgeon whose hands are pictured above, alleviated the effects of the opening in Samuel's spine caused by the spina bifida, a congenital disease that often leads to paralysis and other problems. Pictures from the surgery were printed in a number of newspapers in the U.S. and around the world, including USA Today, and, thanks to the remarkable surgical procedure performed by the Nashville team, little Samuel was born healthy on 2 December 1999.

However, it is not true, as described in the accompanying text, that these photographs were taken as Samuel's hand "emerged from the mother's uterus to grasp the finger of Dr. Joseph Bruner as if thanking the doctor for the gift of life," or that Dr. Bruner said "when his finger was grasped, it was the most emotional moment of his life." This misinformation has been propagated by many different sources, including the photographer who took the pictures:

As a doctor asked me what speed of film I was using, out of the corner of my eye I saw the uterus shake, but no one's hands were near it. It was shaking from within. Suddenly, an entire arm thrust out of the opening, then pulled back until just a little hand was showing. The doctor reached over and lifted the hand, which reacted and squeezed the doctor's finger. As if testing for strength, the doctor shook the tiny fist. Samuel held firm. I took the picture! Wow! It happened so fast that the nurse standing next to me asked, "What happened?"

"The child reached out," I said.

"Oh. They do that all the time," she responded.1
What actually happened, as described in news reports of the surgery, was that:

Just as surgeon Dr. Joseph Bruner was closing the incision in Julie Armas' uterus, Samuel's thumbnail-sized hand flopped out. Bruner lifted it gently and tucked it back in.
(The dubious veracity of the photographer's version of events is highlighted by his appended disclaimer stating that it represents his "opinion of the events as they took place during the surgery for Samuel.")

Dr. Bruner later elaborated on some of the exaggerated and false claims made about this picture:

"It has become an urban legend," says Bruner, the Vanderbilt University surgeon who fixed the spina bifida lesion on Samuel. Many people he hears from wonder whether it's a fake.

"One person said the photo had been reviewed by a team of medical experts and they had determined that it was a hoax," Bruner says with a laugh.

More commonly, people want to know how the photo came to be.

Some opponents of abortion have claimed that the baby reached through the womb and grabbed the doctor's hand.

Not true, Bruner says.

Samuel and his mother, Julie, were under anesthesia and could not move.

"The baby did not reach out," Bruner says. "The baby was anesthetized. The baby was not aware of what was going on."

Keep up the good work Rick. When ever I think of you Toby , Russ and Jessica I pray your grandchild will be perfect in health.

Rick, Thank you for the inspiring words and picture.

Finally...something I agree with you on! That and the love you have for your wife!

Thanks for the post Rick!


Goody

AVB, you beat me to the snopes search. Whenever I see something like this, the first thing I do is check their site, and most of the time, it's on there.

So besides taken completely out of context, the picture and the REAL story are still quite remarkable.

A young friend of ours in Rockland had her baby delivered at 25 weeks. When I went over to the med center to see him, he was only 20 oz. Today he is a beautiful little 2 year old running around knocking things over. Like he should be doing. Abortion is the great Holocaust of this age. IMHO But even at the awfulness of the tragic destruction of a fetus (little baby) in the Christian way, forgiveness is to be found with grace and mercy. Truly, there is a host of these children waiting for us on the other side. And one in particular, we are looking forward to seeing.

John and Millie

http://www.family.org/fofmag/sl/a0024083.cfm 

Politics & religion, I love them both! ! ! ! ! ! ! All things great and miraculous are a tribute to our great God! ! God bless our President, The troops, and all of us!

How beautiful! That is just simply beautiful.



Country

what goody said.

there are some great pics worth posting. i just wonder if he has any more of bloodyspaniard?! LOL

blackfoot

as much as it hurts to say so, i must agree with rick's post as well

That is a cool picture. It has circulated around the OB wards of a few hospitals. Though the story of the prenatal handshake is a bit off. The view from within of a fetus, alive and well...and soon to be born healthy is the miracle.
Not too many years ago...a prognosis of a fetus with spina bifida would have resulted in a termination of the pregnancy.

>

Amazing!

Thanks.