When Mikah Duncan’s son, Cash, was born three months premature, he was admitted to the NICU at The Children’s Hospital in San Antonio. It was there that Duncan learned that there was little she could do for (or with) her newborn son.
She couldn’t touch him, hold him, breastfeed him, or anything involving physical contact. Just about the only thing that this mother could do…was pump.
“I couldn’t touch him, I couldn’t hold him, so I decided I was going to pump my heart out. It was all I could do.” Duncan told ABC News in an interview.
When she first attempted to pump, she wasn’t able to produce much. In fact, she could pump only about a syringe’s worth of breastmilk. The nurses in the hospital were very encouraging towards Duncan, and motivated her to give it her all.
“My husband would wheel me down to the NICU to deliver this tiny bit of milk and I felt so defeated,” Mikah said in her interview. “I had to keep trying.”
After a while, Duncan was pumping like no other mum had pumped before. One NICU eventually told Mikah that she had reached a sufficient amount for her son, and that she should should start storing the remaining milk for when he comes home. So, Mikah kept pumping. Ounce, after ounce, after ounce.
“I realised that [Cash] probably wasn’t going to be able to eat everything I had stored at both the hospital and home,” she said. “So I decided to donate it.”
After signing donor forms, that’s exactly what this mum did.
Source: Mikah Duncan
“I was just hoping I’d have 100 ounces,” said Duncan. The reason being that 100 ounces is the minimum amount required to make a donation. In Duncan’s eyes, it was the least she could do after all the help and encouragement the hospital had provided.
Duncan more than met the donation requirements. When it was all said and done, she had donated roughly 15.5 gallons!
JoAnn King, a representative of the hospital, snapped a photo of the generous donation and decided to share the record breaking donation on social media. That’s where word of the incredible donation spread like wildfire. The donation garnered tons of positive feedback from mothers and netizens alike.
“It feels amazing just to help in some small way,” Mikah told ABC News.
I’d hardly call her donation a “small” one. In fact, it was so large, it was the biggest the hospital had ever seen! Way to go, Mikah!
Duncan’s son, Cash, was recently released from the hospital and is happy and healthy. The family is glad to have their bundle of joy in their home and in the loving arms of his parents.
One thing is for certain for young Cash: he won’t be going hungry anytime soon!