PHOTOS: Baby Born with Brain Outside of Her Skull Makes Miraculous Recovery

When Isabella Grote was born, doctors were worried that she might not survive. In fact, they gave her only a 25 percent chance of living beyond her first few days. That’s because Isabella suffered from a debilitating birth defect called encephalocele, which caused a portion of her brain to develop outside of her skull inside of a fluid-filled sac.

Doctors worried, among other things, that Isabella wouldn’t be able to breathe on her own once she was born, and that if she did survive that she would be severely disabled.

They knew they had to operate to remove the fluid sac, but feared that they would be removing a large portion of her brain along with it.

Just three days old, she underwent the risky procedure, and doctors discovered that they only had to remove a small portion of the infant’s brain.

Against the odds, Isabella survived the surgery and is now four years old—much to her parents’ joy.

Not only that, but she’s reportedly successfully walking and talk and enjoying life just like any other little girl her age.

Her parents are very aware that each small “normal” milestone is a miracle.

“We went along to our 20-week scan where everything went fine, but later on that evening I got a phone call from the doctor who told me that there was something wrong with our baby,” her parents, Sharlotte and Jim, told The Daily Mail.

“Abortion was never an option for us,” they said. “She has hit all of her milestones, including walking and talking, and loves going to school.”