When Clarissa Mansbridge gave birth to her son William three years ago, doctors believed he would not survive the day. Born at 33 weeks following a placental abruption, William was stillborn and had no heartbeat for 26 minutes before doctors managed to resuscitate him.
Devastating news
Just half an hour after his birth, doctors delivered devastating news. “The doctor told me: ‘You have an hour with him, you need to call your entire family, every organ has shut down. He needs an MRI, but we are expecting it to show he is globally brain dead’,” said Clarissa, 34.
She waited 45 minutes for news. When she held him for the first time, he appeared to lift his head and look into her eyes, despite being heavily sedated. “That's what kept me fighting, because I saw that light in his eyes,” she said.
Bleak outlook
William was diagnosed with severe hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy, a brain injury from lack of oxygen at birth. His MRI showed less damage than expected, but the outlook remained bleak. Clarissa was repeatedly warned that if he survived, he may never walk, talk, sit, stand or live independently.
At one point he was put into palliative care; a doctor warned her to prepare to find him dead in his cot. For weeks he remained in intensive care before showing signs of improvement and being transferred to high dependency care.
Repeated emergencies
While staying at Ronald McDonald House, Clarissa received calls in the early hours after William suffered episodes where his oxygen and heart rate plummeted without warning. “I was called at 2.30 in the morning, and they said they had lost him, but they've managed to get him back again,” she said. The episodes happened 16 times every two hours.
Eventually William was transferred to a specialist paediatric hospital, where the episodes stopped. He was discharged in October, two months after birth, and the pair went home. Caring for him alone, single mum Clarissa struggled with fear, anxiety and PTSD.
Remarkable recovery
But against every prediction, William continued to improve. Today, aged three, he walks, talks, runs and loves construction vehicles and dinosaurs. Apart from some hearing loss, he lives much like any other child.
“Every single day this kid surprises me. Every single day. I am so blessed,” she said. She built an AI-generated influencer, Mia Andre, around luxury lifestyle content. Mia recently finished 2nd in the Fanvue x OpenArt AI Personality of the Year Awards. Clarissa earns around $6,000 a month (£4,500) while working around William's childcare.
“My favourite thing is that my phone is no longer glued to my hand,” she said. Now she juggles work with motherhood and is gradually letting go of the anxiety. “His third birthday just feels like a blessing. I can’t wait to see what he does next.”
