Lorraine, a senior policy officer from Glasgow, was 20 weeks along when the doctors gave her the grave news, her pregnancy was “no longer viable.” Her placenta stopped working and wasn’t providing the oxygen and nutrients needed for her baby to grow.
The doctors warned that her baby wouldn’t make it and they offered to terminate the pregnancy. Lorraine refused.
Miracle Baby is Born, Defying All Odds
8 weeks later, against all odds, Lorraine, 38, delivered her “little miracle,” Jamie Mohr, all 1 pound 8 ounces of him.
But Jamie wasn’t out of the woods yet. Because of being a micro-preemie, doctors cautioned that he still only had a 10% chance of surviving.
Apparently, that’s all he needed. 11 weeks later, Lorraine brought him home.
“It was a total rollercoaster, I trusted the doctors but deep down I was willing and hoping them to be wrong and they were,” Lorraine told Wales Online.
In fact, Jamie thrived.
And today, the four-year-old is a bonafide genius, able to do mathematics in SIX different languages, including his 17 times tables. He can also do equations, fractions, and percentages, rivaling kids nearly 3 times his age.
From Preemie to Mathematical Savant
Lorraine first started noticing Jamie’s advanced skills shortly before he turned two. Already counting to 10 and reciting the alphabet, he was leaps and bounds ahead of his peers. He was just getting started.
Weeks later, he was counting to 100, and after watching a video on YouTube, started counting in French as well. Astonished, his mom decided to test how far he could go. So far, he’s mastered counting numbers in German, Japanese, Spanish, and Mandarin. And as an added bonus, he can total up the items in her shopping cart to the penny, which comes in handy at the grocery store.
Lorraine doesn’t know where he gets it from but credits his photographic memory for part of it. His doctors say he has hyperlexia, which is an advanced and unexpected ability in kids to decode words as well as being gifted with numbers.
It’s a remarkable journey for any child. But what makes it even more incredible is that doctors thought Jamie would “likely have a severe disability or learning difficulty,” on account of being deprived of oxygen for 8 weeks in the womb.
Lorraine chalks it up to a miracle.
“Just getting him here – him being born at 28 weeks, 1lb 8oz – was absolutely miraculous,” Lorraine said. “Getting him home from hospital after 11 weeks in intensive care, and then finding out that he’s a gifted learner, it’s sort of triple whammy. It’s unbelievable.”
What she does believe is that there is no limit to what Jamie can accomplish.
So What Comes Next For the 4-Year-Old Math Genius?
Jamie will be starting elementary school later this year. His teachers are already working on a special curriculum for him.
As for what the future holds, it’s anyone’s guess, although Jamie is hoping to be a pirate.
Lorraine sees him going into science or technology and even possibly winning a Nobel Prize one day.
“I can’t wait to see if Jamie ends up winning a Nobel Prize one day. It’s a possibility – he surprises me that much every day with his abilities,” the proud mom said.
Despite all the cards stacked against him, Jamie is thriving. With his unbreakable spirit and remarkable ability to overcome obstacles, there’s no telling where Jamie’s journey will take him.
But one thing’s for certain if his life so far is any indication, this tiny fighter is going to keep going the way he started — defying the odds and proving people wrong every step of the way.
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