Fernandina Beach community rallies around family with baby to be born with rare birth defect

FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. — Soon-to-be parents Emily Vhabae and Jeremiah Joost-Miller love looking at ultrasound pictures of their baby boy, Yadin.

He is due in a few weeks.

But while performing one of these ultrasounds, a technician noticed something unusual.

“They just said they found a small abnormality in his diaphragm,” said Joost-Miller.

So, when Emily was 20 weeks pregnant, these first-time parents learned Yadin would be born with Congenital diaphragmatic hernia, or CDH, a birth defect in which the diaphragm isn’t closed all the way.

“They noticed his stomach was in his chest and it was pushing his chest all the way to the right side,” said Vhabae.

“It was devastating,” said Joost-Miller.

The soon-to-be parents didn’t like the first option they were given, which was to terminate the pregnancy.

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So they found a doctor in St. Petersburg who could help.

“He basically told us his chance of survival would be 85 percent,” said Vhabae.

Yadin would need to go through surgery after being born and that would cost them a lot of money.

So the community stepped in.

A fundraiser will be held at The Surf Restaurant and Bar, and places such as local surf shops will donate items to be auctioned off.

“Emily and Jeremiah will have some sort of peace of mind while they’re dealing with such a struggle,” said Joey Ledet, general manager of The Surf Restaurant and Bar.

The two say the support from the community has been more than they could have imagined. A GoFundMe page has been set up for Yadin.

The fundraiser will be held on July 23 starting at 11 a.m. at The Surf Restaurant and Bar in Fernandina Beach.

Cox Media Group