When John and Mary Jo Canales found out they were expecting a baby in 2001, they could not have been happier. Everything changed when they went in for their 20-week sonogram where they found out some shocking news about their baby. “The tech kept taking longer and longer, then went to get the doctor,” Mary Jo, 53, recalls. “At that point we knew something was going on.” When the doctor came in, he told the anxious parents that they were having a hard time detecting the baby's nose and that his chance of survival would be very low. He said that the baby would likely suffer from brain damage as well as having problems with his legs and feet. Nonetheless, Mary Jo and John stayed strong in their faith and decided to continue with the pregnancy instead of terminating it.  "It wasn't an option for us," says John. Adds Mary Jo: “We thought, ‘This baby is still our gift and our joy, and you don’t turn down a gift.’ But I cried constantly. I had no idea if I’d get to meet my son.”

Four months later Harrison “Gray” Canales was born five weeks early via emergency C-section. As expected, baby Gray was missing his nose as well as having no eyelids, his legs being turned in 90 degrees and his feet were missing toes. Doctors also discovered he’d been born without the right frontal lobe of his brain, leaving his left side with partial mobility. But miraculously, after a week in the NICU, Gray was breathing on his own and was able to go home. John and Mary Jo cared for Gray around the clock while he received many surgeries for his nose and eyelids. 

Now, Gray is 22 and thriving. After enduring nearly 30 surgeries (11 just being on his nose), Gray is well-adjusted and living a healthy and happy life. “I watch movies with friends, play video games,” he says from his family’s home near Dallas. “Nobody has ever treated me differently.” Mary Jo and John instilled perseverance in their son. “We taught him not to feel sorry for himself,” continues John. “Because many other people deal with disabilities too. We told him, ‘This is the way God made you. That’s all.’”