Overview
- Alex Simpson of Omaha celebrated her 20th birthday on Nov. 4, per local reporting later picked up by national outlets.
- Her parents say doctors warned after infancy that she was unlikely to live beyond age 4.
- The family describes only a tiny portion of brain tissue remaining, estimating about half the size of a pinky finger of cerebellum.
- Her relatives report she cannot see or hear but appears to sense people and emotions around her, according to their interviews.
- Medical sources cited in coverage estimate hydranencephaly occurs in roughly 1 in 5,000 to 1 in 10,000 pregnancies and is often fatal in the first year.