Laura endured profound and permanent brain damage during her birth 51 years ago.

Although cognitively impaired and having little volitional motor control, her joie de vivre was infectious.

Seeing the signs of awareness and happiness shining in her eyes and smile lit up the hearts of caregivers.

She managed to reach out to those caring for her and to build reciprocal love from which she too thrived.

Some people report experiencing an ineffable dimension after years of practicing meditation. Others do so following ingestion of psychedelics, others following a near-death experience. Laura seemed to experience bursts of transcendent joy of a similar kind, though she couldn’t tell us what made her eyes shine and her face light up in such ecstasy. Her smiles could fill a room, and special caregivers felt the glow of her spirit and experienced a lift in mood and a sense of meaning from their interactions with her.

She was born in the maternity ward of a suburban hospital that had up-to-date equipment and well-trained doctors. Her mother went into labor close to midnight, having spent months practicing breathing techniques and hoping for a natural delivery. Per standard procedure, her fetal heart rate was monitored, and a resident entered the room occasionally. But neither her obstetrician nor any of their colleagues made an appearance. Shortly before dawn, signs of fetal distress became severe enough that a doctor was summoned and a decision was made to perform a C-section.

During the hours that followed, she experienced numerous seizures, and within a day, the hospital neonatal specialist told her parents that she was unlikely to develop beyond the cognitive level of an infant, and that we should consider instructing the hospital to abstain from special efforts to keep her alive. However, the consulting neurologist stabilized her seizures with orally........

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