Kaytie Boomer I Photojournalist

Through It All

It all started with a heart murmur. At least that is what the doctors told the Sabin family when they were bringing their third precious daughter home from the hospital for the first time. They told the family to follow up with a cardiologist, but to not be too concerned about it.

One short month later, Kelli Sabin had Mariah Sabin sleeping on her chest, and she was woken up by realizing Mariah quit breathing. First, the doctors assumed Kelli was just being a paranoid mother, but she knew something was off. Mariah continued to have these moments of her breathing stopping and she was eventually sent off to Grand Rapids, Mich. for further observations.

Several different disorders kept popping up. Mariah was issued an apnea machine for the evenings because they diagnosed her with central sleep apnea, which causes breathing to stop time and time again throughout the night.

At this point, the doctors began worrying about Mariah’s weight. She was far too skinny to maintain her health, but nothing was working to get her to put on weight. While trying to figure this out, the Sabin family found Mariah a new doctor to test her eyesight, and they figured out she was deaf-blind.

After one year of life, Mariah had already stacked up quite a list of disorders, but the doctors found a mitochondrial disorder causing her mental state to be much younger than she actually is. Doctors began breaking the news to the Sabin family that Mariah would not live much longer even though she was only one year old. Kelli and her husband, Doug Sabin, were confident that Mariah had a lot of life left in her. They refused to give up.

Luckily, the new doctor they found named Bruce Cohen was just as determined to help Mariah succeed. He helped her eating schedule get on track after using feeding tubes because those did not work for her since she kept pulling them out. Cohen was the only doctor who gave the Sabin family hope outside of their own, and that will not be overlooked for the rest of their lives.

“He was the kind of doctor that came out to the waiting room to get you,” Kelli said. “He spent two hours on the floor with her when he met her. I had never seen a doctor do that, but it was so cool.”

Regardless of all the medical issues Mariah has been forced to deal with, she has hopped over every obstacle put in her way and is now seventeen years old. She requires 24/7 care at home and school, so Kelli works from home and Doug works in Grand Rapids, Mich. to bring in more income.

Although Mariah is nonverbal, she is able to use a little American Sign Language to communicate with her loved ones. Deaf-blind does not automatically mean completely deaf and blind, but both senses are limited for her. She has ‘normal’ hobbies such as playing the piano, listening to music, and skiing. Kelli and Doug have four children and Mariah is the only child who possesses these disorders prominently.

The love and bond within the Sabin family is as strong as ever. Mariah’s parents never look down upon her and instead raise her up to make her believe she can do more than what most people think she can. She is not a burden in their eyes and never will be; she is a blessing in their lives.