Out of heartache comes hope

Mike and Jennifer Shanahan with their son Tyler and twins Dylan and Gabriella.

Courtesy Shanahan family

Brendan and Liam Shanahan

Courtesy Shanahan family

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In March 2004, Jennifer and Mike Shanahan were excited to welcome their first child, a boy they named Brendan Brian. “His beautiful blue eyes would light up the room,” said Jennifer, an East Rockaway native, “especially when one of us would come home from a long day at work.”

That November, the Shanahans bought their dream house in Wantagh — but that was when their nightmare began.

“On Dec. 1 … our inconsolable Brendan went into convulsions, and was taken to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Winthrop University Hospital and administered every anticonvulsant drug,” Jennifer recounted, “[but to] no avail.”

After a week in a medically induced coma, Brendan was transferred to NYU hospital in Manhattan, where doctors perform a three-part surgery to remove the area of his brain that they believed was causing the seizures.

“Brendan did great through the surgeries, and it had seemed that the seizures had stopped,” Jennifer recalled. But then he began experiencing small twitches, and after another operation to fix a reflux condition, Brendan’s health began to deteriorate rapidly.

“He went into septic shock at home in February, and on March 14 we decided to take Brendan off life support,” Jennifer said. “He passed away in our arms just four days short of his first birthday.”

What happened to Brendan was not diagnosed until much later.

In April 2005, the Shanahans learned that they were expecting another baby. Their second son, Tyler, was born that November. It’s normal for parent to worry about their baby’s health, but the Shanahans knew that Tyler was going to be OK.

“I guess it’s a parent’s intuition, and sure enough, we were right,” Jennifer said. Tyler was healthy. After consulting with doctors, the Shanahans were given the green light to once again add to their family, and in September 2007, Liam Patrick was born.

“Liam would light up our days every time he smiled,” said Jennifer. But, she said, one May afternoon, after she took him to have his christening photos taken, he woke from a nap and began having seizures.

“We couldn’t believe that this was happening again,” Jennifer said. “Why us?”