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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Fetal Center for Children at Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital has received a $15 million donation from a Utah family in memory of their infant son.
Twelve years ago, Brad and Megan Bonham lost their son, Grant, just 33 hours after he was born. He died of a kidney condition called posterior urethral valves, which was incurable at the time. The couple discovered the condition during Megan’s 20 week pregnant ultrasound.
“I carried Grant to term. He weighed 6 pounds, 5 ounces. It was a great experience to be able to hold it. We knew he wouldn’t be with us long, so we asked family and friends to come meet him and hold him. We spent the evening holding him, singing to him, tickling his face and enjoying every moment we could. The room seemed sacred. Heaven was for sure near.
Grant died in Megan’s arms, with Brad by their side, the following day.
“There was no cure for his problem at the time,” said Brad Bonham. “So there we sat while he was in my wife’s womb for another five months anticipating the worst.”
The donation will enable the hospital to strengthen fetal care and surgeries for pregnant women and their families for many years to come, said Katy Welkie, CEO of Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital and Vice President of Intermountain Children’s Health. .
“It will also help establish the first highly specialized fetal care center in Utah and Intermountain West, a vital community resource that will enable Intermountain Healthcare and Primary’s Children’s, with partners at the University of Utah Health, to become a national leader in comprehensive fetal care. , including complex fetal surgeries,” Welkie said.
In honor of the baby boy, the Utah Fetal Center was renamed the Grant Scott Bonham Fetal Center.
“We’ve been through some really tough times in our lives and there was always someone with a helping hand that lifted us up,” said Brad Bonham. “We feel it’s almost incumbent upon us to provide those same raised hands when the opportunity arises.”
Dr. Stephen Fenton, a pediatric surgeon at both the University of Utah Health and Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital, has often said that the joy a parent feels during pregnancy can turn to despair when they realizes that her child has birth defects.
“We hope the fetal center will become a command center for these parents, a place where they can access high-quality integrated care, innovative therapies and a full team of fetal experts, researchers and surgeons to help high-risk pregnant women. pregnancies overcome these challenges,” said Fenton, also director of the center.
Megan said the gift was very personal for her family.
“As difficult as this time has been for us, we now feel motivated to help others who have gone through something similar,” she said.
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