Swathed in love and hope: baby Scottlyn Sally Canku

By Mimi Larsen Staff Writer

When Chelsey and Billy Canku went to the 22-week ultrasound appointment for their baby (the gender-reveal appointment), they decided ahead of time they didn’t want to find out the gender until birth. The next day, when Chelsey went in for her regular prenatal check-up, she found out their baby is one in a million.

“I’m a little confused,” the doctor said, “There is an abnormal structure in the baby’s brain, but there are no facial defects.”

The Cankus were sent to a specialist in Sioux Falls three days later, where they found out their baby has a very rare, very deadly birth defect: Holoprosensephaly (HPE). In fact, she had the worst kind. For more of this story and many more please purchase a copy of this weeks Sisseton Courier on news stands now or purchase a copy of the e-edtion from this website.