The baby who should be a bundle of joy was born with multiple ailments.
WESTERN BUREAU:
Janet Silvera, Freelance Writer
NOT ONCE during the eight years that I have been writing have I ever cried during an interview. But, Giovann Cody Ebanks, the seven-year-old miracle boy's survival story drew gut-wrenching feelings from deep within me.
Giovann, fondly called Cody, was born in Grand Cayman to Jamaican mother Sherie Ebanks and Caymanian father, Jeffrey, in 1994. His arrival into the world was one of the most frightening and devastating experiences any parent could ever have had. Tipping the scale at a mere six pounds, the baby who should have been a bundle of joy, was born with multiple ailments, including prune belly syndrome, congenital hydronephrosis, respiratory distress, reactive airway disease and pneumonia. His entry into the world turned out to be a nightmare of endurance for his parents. "One of the doctors in Florida told me he would not live, but I told him he was not God," said Sherie Ebanks.
Unlike other children Cody was born without a navel; he arrived with a withered umbilical cord from which the doctors had to make a navel. To make matters worse he had no muscles in his abdomen. After careful checks it was revealed that there was a large hole in his right kidney, his liver was oversized, his urinal tract was blocked and his testicles were turned upwards. There was nothing right about this child. The slightest occurrence of a cold meant several hours in an emergency room, "because we didn't want his kidneys to become infected," said Mrs. Ebanks. However, as far as she knew, God had sent her son. "He was sent here as a messenger," she declares confidently.
Born with a purpose
WHAT CHILD is expected to live after being diagnosed with these ailments? Obviously a child born with an unimaginable determination to live, a child with a purpose.
Cody's purpose is already evident, he is packed full of confidence and conviction. He promises that he will be the first black Governor the island of Grand Cayman will ever see. "Because we only have white Governors and they think they are the best, and when you think you are the best you don't do anything," he said. Part of his plan is to become a millionaire as well and with this type of status he says he will be kind and helpful and giving to the poor.
At seven years old, Cody is already a budding track star, a preacher of no mean order, an excellent dancer and he sings with the Cayman Junior Choir he is a leader, a child filled with unconditional love for all persons willing to take what he has to give. "Whenever I am sick he is the first one to get me a wash rag with some ice on it, place it on my head, he uses rubbing alcohol to rub my face and my head and he prays and ask the Lord to make me well," his mother boasted.
"In the mornings when he is going out to school, he comes and hugs me and says, 'Mother may the Lord stay with you and have a good day'," says his mother. "If I go before he does he says, 'May the Lord go with you Mother'," she added. Cody is such a spiritual child that at the age of six years he was given the task of praying for the entire school one morning at devotion. "It was a little scary, but I did it because I wanted to, I like praying, I like singing to Him (the Lord); He helps me in my tests at school and teaches me not to be mean to other people," he said.
Cody could easily be called the peacemaker, he reminisces about problems between his parents. "I tell them to love each other, and not fight, I ask my dad if he loves my mom and I ask my mom if she loves my dad, and I ask them to stop fighting because I don't like when they fight."
