PINEVILLE — Samuel Armas, 13, was famous before he was born.
A photo of his fetal surgery has circulated across the world through the media and Internet since 2000.
The picture — often called “the hand of hope” — shows his tiny hand sticking out of his mother’s womb and being held by his surgeon. The experimental in-utero surgery was performed to close a lesion on his back after he had been diagnosed with spina bifida as a 21-week-old fetus.
The picture often is used in pro-life presentations, and Louisiana College President Joe Aguillard said he has used it for such reasons over the last decade. He said he’d wanted to find the child from the picture for years.
He finally found Samuel and his family, who shared their story at LC’s weekly chapel service on Thursday. The message Samuel most wanted to share was “choose life.”
“Life is life, no matter what disability you have,” he said.
PINEVILLE, La. – Louisiana College hosted a special guest for its first chapel of the year today.
News Channel 5’s Kathleen Witte was there, and spoke with the teenager who became famous for a photo taken of him before he was even born.
Thirteen years ago, this photo went viral: an unborn child grabbing the finger of a surgeon during an experimental open-fetal procedure to treat spina bifida.
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I remember the photo. My child was an infant at the time and Diagnosised with Spina Bifida. I often have wondered if the surgery would of helped but then Mel would not be Mel if she was not the way she is.
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