When doctors told Shawn and Lorena Simpson their baby girl wouldn’t live past four years old, they braced for heartbreak. But twenty years later, Alex Simpson, a young woman from Omaha, Nebraska, just blew out birthday candles most people said she’d never see.
Born with hydranencephaly, a rare condition where most of the brain’s hemispheres are missing, Alex’s survival is something doctors still can’t fully explain. Her family? They’ve got one answer.
“Love,” they said simply.
Hydranencephaly is one of those conditions that usually ends in tragedy most babies don’t live past their first year. But Alex’s story? Straight miracle status.
Her dad, Shawn Simpson, broke down just how serious it is:
“(Hydranencephaly) means that her brain is not there, not half a brain, her whole brain. Technically, she has about half the size of my pinky finger of her cerebellum in the back part of her brain, but that’s all that’s there.”
Despite all that, Alex keeps showing the world that her spirit’s doing the talking. She can’t see or hear, but her family swears she can feel — like on a deeper level.
Her little brother SJ, 14, put it best:
“Say somebody’s stressed around her. Nothing will even happen – it could be completely silent – but Alex will know. She’ll feel something. Like, if my grandma’s hurting, in her back, she’ll radiate off of it — it’s crazy.”
The Simpson family says faith and love are what’s kept Alex going all these years. Through sleepless nights, doctors’ doubts, and moments that tested everything they believed in — they never stopped holding on.
“Twenty years ago, we were scared but faith, I th really what kept us alive,” Shawn said.
And now, as the family gathered on November 4 to celebrate Alex’s 20th birthday, they weren’t just marking time — they were celebrating strength, resilience, and a kind of love that can’t be explained by science.
Because sometimes, the most powerful heartbeat in the room doesn’t come from the body, comes from the soul.
Happy Birthday, Alex. Keep defying the odds, Queen.