Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 25, 1993 TAG: 9309250231
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CAROLYN CLICK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Andrew, who defied doctors' grim prognoses and grew into a charming, curly-haired youngster, captured the hearts of a nation with the story of his birth and subsequent search for a special family to adopt him.
Born in Roanoke and cared for by foster parents Bobby and Barbara Stanley, the baby was adopted at 5 months by Katherine Vandal of Wallingford, Conn.
"I think he touched a lot of lives," said Barbara Stanley, who for years received letters from strangers inquiring about Andrew's health and writing of their appreciation for the health of their own children.
Andrew was born July 12, 1984. His biological mother had planned to have him adopted before his birth. There was no indication during her pregnancy of the brain abnormality and the birth was considered normal.
But shortly after he was placed with the Stanleys in Roanoke County, he began suffering from arm tremors and cried constantly. After his admission to the hospital, doctors discovered that Andrew had no brain.
Doctors believe a cyst formed at the stem of the brain, preventing the cerebrum and the cerebellum, parts of the brain that control muscular movement and allow people to think, from forming naturally.
His skull was filled with fluid and doctors gave him a poor prognosis for survival.
Doctors "said he would never smile, never respond, never grow," Vandal said in a 1989 interview. "All those things have proved to be untrue."
In fact, Vandal said, "Andrew just glows. He laughs, he giggles, he smiles. He has an outgoing, bubbly personality that really draws people to him."
Andrew could not walk or talk, but learned to propel himself by lying on the floor and using his feet.
The story of "Baby Andrew" first appeared in the Roanoke Times & World-News in September 1984. After it was distributed by wire services to newspapers throughout the country, the Children's Home Society of Virginia was flooded with calls from parents eager to adopt the baby.
Vandal, a former pediatric nurse, was selected because she had two other adopted children with similar conditions and knew how to care for them. Vandal's mother and father, Ernest and Joyce Vandal, also lived in the home and helped care for the youngsters.
Barbara Stanley said Andrew died in his grandfather's arms.
"Kay said he had not been sick. He wasn't uncomfortable," she said. "Her father was holding him and he just closed his eyes."
Barbara Stanley is convinced that Andrew's life was extended by the care he received throughout his life.
"We think that is the key to it," said Stanley, who kept in touch with Katherine Vandal and last saw Andrew about five years ago.
"If he had been placed in an institution he would probably have died within a year," she said. "He was really a miracle. They said he would never smile and he did. He died with a smile on his face."
The funeral for Andrew will be private. The family has requested that gifts in his memory be made to a special-needs children's foundation: Alpha & Omega Inc., c/o Rachel Rossow, 15 1/2 Lambs Lane, Ellington, Conn. 06029.
by CNB