Anna had no idea there was something wrong with her baby and was in ‘total shock’ at what medics told her
Anna had no idea there was something wrong with her baby and was in ‘total shock’ at what medics told her
10:48, 15 Feb 2026Updated 10:48, 15 Feb 2026
At the 20 week scan parents-to-be Anna and John Brown were told their unborn baby “might not make it.” Defying all odds, Ethan Brown will turn eight next month. And, calling him her “little miracle,” Anna has shared her son’s story with the ECHO. Anna’s pregnancy was normal, there was nothing to suggest Ethan would be born in March 2018 with a life-changing illness. In fact, the parents were in “total shock” when they were told there was an abnormality in their unborn baby’s brain.
The mum-of-two, from Birkenhead, said: “They [doctors] asked if I had been ill, but there was nothing. They told me at the scan they could see an abnormality. Before he was born we were under Arrowe Park, Alder Hey and the Women’s hospitals.
“We saw neurologists, everything you can think of. It was so overwhelming and stressful. The only thing that got us through was the perk of getting to see my son every week on a scan.”
Anna, 46, who also shares a 14-year-old daughter, Lucy, with her husband says she “risked” her own health to make sure Ethan would survive. She said: “If I didn’t feel him move I would eat so much cake and sugar to get him to start moving inside my womb, I was that scared and panicked that he wouldn’t make it. He was my miracle.”
Ethan was born with grey matter heterotopia (GMH), cerebellum hypoplasia, learning difficulties and cerebral palsy. Anna said: “Every day he meets challenges that me and you would find easy. £Ethan didn’t learn to walk until he was two, simple things like “moving his fingers and giving a thumbs up” are huge milestones. And, on top of all that, he suffers “scary” seizures that make him “very sick.”
Anna said: “He’s been blue lighted to hospital after I’ve had to watch him fit. It’s terrifying. He was only two when he started having seizures, they can be very dangerous. We’ve all had to be trained to perform rescue medications for when he seizures.”
Rescue medications are fast-acting benzodiazepines used to stop prolonged or clustered seizures, usually administered as nasal sprays, buccal (cheek) films/liquids, or rectal gels. Anna says she “dreads the day” she has to use them. Ethan will often hallucinate and suffer from twitching too.
She said: “About a year and a half a go he finally learnt how to communicate that his head hurts. He said to me ‘mum, my head hurts on the inside.’ I thought ‘how long has this been happening, and he can’t tell me?’ He’s probably been in pain his whole life and he doesn’t know that it should be that way because he is so used to it.”
His mum added: “He used to have a lot of seizures, but now he’s on meds which control them.” She continued: “We have to keep a camera on him when he goes to bed so we can constantly monitor him, bedtime is always the most worrying time. What if it [seizures] happens in bed and I don’t wake up?
Despite it all, the “happy and smiley” young boy “carries on fighting with a smile on his face.” Anna said: “He must tell me he loves me 50 times a day. He goes to a mainstream school and tries his best to carry on as normal. No matter what he’s going through he is always smiling. He is a character, he doesn’t miss a trick. He’s so funny, he sings his head off.
“He is my hero. He goes through so much, so much that we probably don’t even know about because he doesn’t know how to communicate it, and still remains happy and smiley. He honestly is such a little miracle, my inspiration.”
After hearing about the family’s experience, Anna’s friend Pete, part of a group of local bikers, has helped raise thousands of pounds to fund vital epilepsy bed alarms for children with epilepsy being cared for at Wirral University Teaching Hospital.
Anna said: “My friend Pete came around with his biker mates and came up with the idea of raising money to buy us an epilepsy bed alarm. We then kept going, raising enough to buy more alarms for other children who attend the epilepsy clinic at Arrowe Park.”
Through a charity raffle and community support, the group raised £1,400, funding an alarm for Ethan and three other young patients, with additional money set aside for future equipment Ethan may need. Anna added: “That epilepsy alarm has saved all our lives. I go to sleep knowing there’s an aid that will alert us if he has a seizure in bed.”
The alarms have been donated through WUTH Charity and distributed to families supported by the Children’s Epilepsy Service. The devices alert parents or carers to seizure activity during sleep, helping them respond quickly and reduce risks of harm, including Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP).
Sara Morris, paediatric epilepsy nurse specialist at Wirral University Teaching Hospital, said: “We see first-hand how worried families can feel, particularly at night. Having access to epilepsy bed alarms helps parents respond quickly to seizure activity and supports safer care at home. This donation will make a meaningful difference to the children and families we support.”
Dr Nikki Stevenson, deputy chief executive at Wirral University Teaching Hospital, said: “This generous community fundraising effort has made a real difference to families caring for children with epilepsy. Thanks to this support, more families now have access to specialist equipment that can help protect children living with epilepsy.”
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