When twins Ethan and Ahren Masters were born, Ahren’s heartbeat stopped just before birth. His doctors were concerned, and immediately placed him in a special unit to provide him with oxygen until he was stable, and further monitoring.
Thankfully, Ahren’s heart problem quickly resolved itself, and the Masters family was able to return home soon after.
A month later, however, the twins’ mother, Amanda, began to notice pale pink patches developing on Ethan’s face. They were faint at first, and more closely resembled a blush than anything else.
When the mark didn’t fade, Amanda took Ethan to the doctor, who reassured her that it was just a birthmark, nothing serious.
“But I knew it wasn’t nothing,” she said after the appointment. “The birthmark kept getting bigger. At its largest it covered half of his face,” she remembered.
Over the next few weeks, the birthmark grew red and angry, taking over Ethan’s face, ear canal, and even the inside of his lump.
While strangers would come up to Amanda to coo over Ahren, they shied away once they saw Ethan’s appearance and assumed that Amanda was abusing her son by burning him across the face.
The birthmark didn’t seem to show any signs of slowing its growth, and eventually Ethan “was wheezing” because the mark had taken over so much of his face and mouth.
Amanda took then two-month-old Ethan back to the hospital where doctors discovered that the birthmark was even growing inside Ethan’s body, on his windpipe.
There was so little room for him to breathe, this abnormal mark was beginning to choke him.
Amanda was given two treatment options for her son, and eventually opted to treat her son with medication.
No one expected his recovery to proceed so smoothly. But within two weeks, the birthmark was receding and within the following month, Ethan was able to return home to his twin, fully healthy again.
“I cried when I saw the difference and still can’t believe it when I see the shocking photos of him now,” Amanda admitted, “We really haven't looked back since Ethan took that drug. Now he and his twin are an inseparable pair who just want to spend time together.”
