Little Juniper French had been born a micro preemie; she weighed less than 1 pound, 12 ounces at birth and was born before her mother’s 26th week of pregnancy.
When she was born, her skin was translucent, and her ears didn’t even have any cartilage in them. “They crumpled like little elf ears,” her mom, Kelley, recalled.
Juniper had to be kept under the watchful eye of many doctors and nurses in the hospital before her life could be deemed as “safe.”
Her parents stayed by Juniper’s side in the hospital.
On the night of Juniper’s first “crisis,” her father, Tom, was suddenly overcome with the urge to read his tiny daughter the title of the first chapter of Harry Potter: “The Boy Who Lived.”
Somehow, Juniper survived that night. And then she pulled through the next day, and the next, and the following.
The entire time, Juniper’s father continued to read Harry Potter to her.
Because micro preemies are very sensitive to sounds and emotions, Tom intentionally read each character with particular voices and was spurred in his actions when he saw that Juniper’s numbers on her monitors were showing positive responses.
Author J.K. Rowling heard about Juniper’s story and reached out to Kelley, asking if she could send Juniper all seven books. In the first, she’d signed and dedicated it to Juniper, calling the brave little girl, “The Girl Who Lived.”
Now, Juniper has grown up into a bright, healthy little girl who, yes, still harbors a deep love for Harry Potter.
You can watch her remarkable story here:
