Alabama boy named world’s most premature infant to survive
Curtis was born 132 days premature on July 5, 2020 with a twin who didn’t survive. Weighing only 14.8 ounces at birth, the boy is now healthy and 16 months old.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama boy who weighed less than a pound at birth after his mother went into labor at only 21 weeks and one day of gestation has been certified as the world’s most premature baby to survive.
Guinness World Records and UAB Hospital announced Wednesday that Curtis Means, who weighed only 14.8 ounces (420 grams) at birth, set the new record. Born 132 days premature on July 5, 2020 with a twin who didn’t survive, Curtis is now healthy and 16 months old.
Dr. Brian Sims, who was the attending physician, said statistics show that children born so young have virtually no chance of survival, but Curtis beat the odds.
“We typically advise for compassionate care in situations of such extremely preterm births,” Sims said in a statement from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, which operates the hospital. “This allows the parents to hold their babies and cherish what little time they may have together.”
Instead, Curtis grew stronger and stronger and was discharged after 275 days in the hospital. He needed help from therapists to begin using his mouth and eating.
“Being able to finally take Curtis home and surprise my older children with their younger brother is a moment I will always remember,” mother Michelle Butler of rural Eutaw, Alabama, said in a statement.
A fetus is considered full term at 40 weeks, but Butler went into labor after carrying twins just over half that length of time. She was transferred to UAB Hospital, which has a regional neonatal intensive care unit, where she gave birth to Curtis and C’Asya.
C’Asya died a day later, but Curtis was able to come off a ventilator after three months. Following months of round-the-clock care, he went home in April.
While Curtis still needs a feeding tube and supplemental oxygen because he was so premature, Sims said he’s in good health considering how early he was born.
“We do not know what all the future will hold for Curtis since there is no one else like him,” Sims said. “He started writing his own story the day he was born. That story will be read and studied by many and, hopefully, will help improve care of premature infants around the world.”
Guinness said Curtis beat by a day the previous record, which held for only a month. Richard Hutchinson, from Wisconsin, was born at a gestational age of 21 weeks, 2 days in June 2020.
UAB holds WBHM’s broadcast license, but our news and business departments operate independently.
Ex-Georgia prosecutor on trial for hindering Ahmaud Arbery’s murder investigation
Former district attorney Jackie Johnson is accused of interfering with the police investigation into the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery, nearly five years after he was murdered while jogging.
Trump is withdrawing from the Paris Agreement (again), reversing U.S. climate policy
President Trump issued a barrage of orders Monday targeting Biden-era initiatives on global warming. The decisions come on the heels of the hottest year ever recorded.
Taliban announce release of two Americans held in Afghanistan in a prisoner exchange
Afghanistan's Taliban government announced on Tuesday the release of two Americans in a prisoner exchange.
Ohio State defeats Notre Dame 34-23 in college football championship game
Ohio State dominated most of the night, and all through the playoffs
Trump orders end of humanitarian parole for migrants of four countries
Under the Biden administration, migrants from embattled countries could apply for entry due for humanitarian reasons, without having to attempt to cross into the U.S. illegally.
Trump rescinds Biden’s census order, clearing a path for reshaping election maps
President Trump revoked a Biden-era executive order that affirmed the longstanding practice of including the total number of persons residing in each state in a census count used for election maps.
