Baby whose ventilator lost power during Buffalo blizzard gifted new generator

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — During the December blizzard, 7 News introduced you to one-year-old Major Brown, who relied on a ventilator to breathe. When thousands lost power on the Friday of the blizzard, his mother Shahida Muhammad told 7 News that his ventilator failed later that night.

Muhammad, and her fiancé Michael Brown, had no choice but to give manual breaths to their son through a process called bagging. She said they did this strenuous task from Friday night until Sunday night. That's when strangers rescued them from their home to take them to a relative's.

"This was the biggest present ever," Muhammad told 7 News reporter Michael Schwartz on that Christmas night. However, more gifts would be headed their way.

When the Brandel Murphy Youth Foundation, based out of Long Island, saw the story on 7 News, it sparked a desire to help. The foundation uses grants to help children through the Lions Club in New York and Bermuda.

In this case, the Brandel Murphy Youth Foundation got an emergency grant to purchase a Honda generator, extension cord, and full tank of gas to gift Muhammad so this predicament never happens again.

The foundation contacted the Lions Club of Western New York, and the club's district governor, Michael Yost, then contacted Schwartz to be connected to the family.

On Monday, Yost and Lions Club of Western New York member, Tom Witkowski, presented Muhammad with the gift.

"This is really big, I'm literally trying to hold back tears," said Muhammad. "It was really hard for me and my family during the storm, and I couldn’t imagine if we would've had a generator we would've been fine."

The best news is that Muhammad said Major is now only on the ventilator when he sleeps, as doctor's are looking to wean him off the machine.