Chance Dean was alive for just 25 days.
Yet his tragic story has reverberated in hospitals around the country, impacted the stock price of two multinational corporations, and ignited a high-stakes legal clash over a pernicious disease that kills hundreds of babies a year in the United States.
Born two months early and weighing less than four pounds, Chance spent all his days under close medical supervision in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) near his family’s home in Southern Illinois.
His mother, Jasmine Watson, was unable to produce enough breast milk to fully nourish Chance and his fraternal twin brother, Chase.
She initially opted to have her sons fed with a combination of her own milk and human breast milk from donor banks.
As Chance and his brother were being prepared for transfer to a hospital where donor milk was unavailable, doctors began transitioning them on Day 12 to a formula designed specifically for premature, low-birthweight infants, in addition to Watson’s breast milk, which was fortified to adequately support their nutrition.