Miracles from Heaven

Noah and his mom have been through a long medical ordeal, but God continually intervened, including through the support of Moody Radio

by Nancy Huffine  /  April 16, 2024

First dates. Birthdays. Wedding anniversaries. Those are dates that most women remember. And there’s another date that women remember: their due date.

“March 14 of 2021,” says Michelle Langlois. That was the date her first child was supposed to make his entrance into the world.

“He didn’t even come close,” she says.

The first few months of Michelle’s pregnancy seemed normal and almost perfect. “I had an amazing pregnancy with him. I loved being pregnant. Nothing went wrong—until it did,” she says. “And when it did, it was bad all at once.”

In her second trimester, Michelle developed preeclampsia, a potentially dangerous pregnancy complication characterized by high blood pressure. That was followed by a diagnosis of HELLP syndrome (hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, low platelet count), and a sonogram showed that baby Noah was in distress.

“Everything went haywire,” Michelle says, “and they had to take him early.”

At just 25 weeks—nearly 15 weeks early—Bruce Noah Langlois was born on November 29, 2020.

Long ordeal begins

For the next 208 days, the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) at Golisano Children’s Hospital in Fort Myers, Florida, was like a second home to Michelle Langlois and her husband, Bruce. For baby Noah, it was home, and his bed was a high-tech incubator sprouting with tubes, wires, and cords.

“The NICU has what are called ‘touch times’ when the nurses would come in and do all of their care with him,” Michelle says. “I would try to be there for those times so that I could participate in his care. I could touch him, hold his hand, and I would just wait and wait and wait. As time went on, he’d reach these little milestones, and one day the Isolette cover came off, and he wasn't in a box anymore!”

The opportunity to hold their baby in their arms was priceless for Michelle and Bruce.

“We could see him without having to look at him through a glass,” Michelle says. “We could give him a real bath, not just the sponge bath. It took more than a month for us to be able to just hold him for the first time.”

Shocking loss in the family

While Michelle focused her attention on spending as much time in the NICU with Noah as possible, Bruce was working full time for a paving company. Having struggled with asthma and sinus issues for most of his life, he had recently undergone sinus surgery. It wasn’t out of the ordinary for him to be a bit out of breath or tired.

When Bruce called Michelle to say he was on his way to the hospital to celebrate Noah’s graduation from the NICU, Michelle wasn’t alarmed when he said he was feeling a little weary and light-headed. Nothing seemed to matter because—seven long months after his birth—their little boy was finally coming home!

At the family’s house, Noah slept in a crib in the couple’s living room, and a full-time nurse was on duty. During those first few days, Michelle often slept on the couch to be as close to Noah as possible and to let Bruce get his much-needed sleep before he headed out to long shifts in the Florida heat.

On their fourth day home together as a family, Michelle says, “We had dinner together, Bruce cuddled with Noah for a little while, and then he went to bed early.” Bruce had mentioned feeling a little light-headed and unwell. “Of course, in true guy fashion, he just said he’d feel better if he could get some sleep,” she recalls.

At 3:00 a.m., Michelle checked on Bruce. He wasn’t breathing. Panicked, she called 911, then contacted her parents who lived just a few houses away. When paramedics arrived, they worked on Bruce and took him to the hospital immediately. Michelle followed.

“As soon as I got to the hospital and they took me into a smaller room instead of straight to Bruce, I knew that he was gone,” she says. “I guess I knew the whole time because it was very obvious that he had already passed when I got to him at three o'clock in the morning.” Bruce was 35 years old.

Troubling discovery

Michelle hardly had time to grieve the loss of Bruce when Noah’s health took a bad turn. “He was a NICU baby, and NICU babies have issues,” she says. “Noah had some problems with his bowels and with eating. He was having trouble gaining weight. We were constantly in doctors’ offices, and they were watching him.

“It wasn't until his first birthday in November 2021 when I was giving him a bath that I felt one side of his belly, and it was really hard.”

A few days later at a scheduled appointment, Michelle asked the doctor about it. Later, x-rays revealed a growth on Noah’s liver.

The hospital’s pediatric oncologist met with Michelle. “She told me, ‘It’s what's called a hepatoblastoma. It's a rare diagnosis, but it happens in premature babies,” Michelle remembers. “Then she said, ‘The good news is that it's treatable.’”

From bad to worse

But as treatments began, it became obvious that Noah’s tumor wasn’t responding to the chemotherapy. He would need a liver transplant.

In March of 2022, Noah was scheduled to be transferred from the hospital in Fort Myers to Holtz Children’s Hospital in Miami where a transplant was possible. The night before his transfer, Michelle noticed something.

“Noah’s attending oncologist was working late that evening and just came in to say ‘Hi’ to him before he left for the night,” Michelle says. “Noah was breathing a little hard, and I asked the doctor about it. The doctor said, ‘I don't like this.’ So he contacted the ICU doctor, who came right up and said, ‘We're taking him downstairs right now.’  Just after Noah arrived in the ICU, he went into cardiac arrest.”

The skilled staff in the ICU revived Noah, and a few days later he was transferred to Miami. His recovery was agonizingly slow, and his liver transplant was delayed for nine months to another date that Michelle vividly remembers—December 29, 2022.

Ray of sunshine

During his months in the hospital, Noah’s huge smiles and sweet disposition affected everyone around him. Molly Ramkumar, Noah’s maternal grandmother, says, “Nurses from the ER would come into Noah’s room, see him smile, give him a hug, and then return to their shifts. He was a breath of fresh air, like a bright spot in their day.

“One day Michelle and I took Noah outside for a few minutes to a little park on the hospital grounds. On the way back in, we passed two security guards who were standing outside. Noah smiled and waved at them, and one of the guards said, ‘He just made my day!’”

“That happened a lot,” Michelle adds. “Almost daily, hospital staff would just stop by to say hi. Despite everything, Noah’s disposition made it easier, and he was well loved at both hospitals. His sweet personality made him a favorite. I thank God for that. And I think that was a little bit of Bruce injecting his personality in there to make sure his boy was taken care of.”

Seeking prayer from their Moody Radio family

Michelle’s mother Molly had become an avid Moody Radio listener, and during those long 15 months of Noah’s hospitalization, Molly would call Moody Radio Florida WKES and ask for prayer during the morning “Prayer Huddle.” Marc Durkin, producer for Kurt and Kate Mornings on WKES, says, “Noah’s grandmother Molly started submitting prayer requests several times a week. When she did, she’d greet us as her ‘Moody Radio Family,’ thanking us for faithfully praying for Noah.”

Molly kept the cohosts and staff of Kurt and Kate Mornings up to date about Noah’s health status. “As time went on, Molly would share details involving Noah’s highs and lows during treatment at the hospital,” Marc says. “She consistently trusted us with the family’s journey, always making her prayer requests and praise reports very specific.

“She often sent pictures of Noah in the hospital, pictures of Noah sitting with family, with hospital staff, and ultimately pictures of him with a phone or radio listening to Kurt and Kate every morning.”

Miraculous new liver

A hospital stay that began in March of 2022 finally ended 15 months later in June of 2023 after Noah received a liver transplant on December 29, 2022. Little Noah could finally go back home.

Noah’s adjustment to his new liver has been miraculous, and his recent blood work has shown positive results. But good news is often mixed with another health challenge. In November of 2023, Noah celebrated his third birthday in the comfort of his own home but only after another 10-day hospital stay to repair a herniated diaphragm. He still has a tracheostomy tube, and he gets liquid nutrition through a gastrostomy tube.

“He needs to catch up a little bit developmentally,” Michelle says. “Because of all of his time in the hospital, he is delayed. He's only just learned how to walk. He's gaining more in vocabulary every day, but he's not talking in full sentences yet.”

The silver lining

When Michelle talks about the tragedy of her husband Bruce’s death along with the trauma of Noah’s health emergencies, she says, “It’s as horrendous as it sounds, but at no point was I angry at God. I was angry at the situation. I think God helped me see a silver lining in it.”

For Michelle, the silver lining is Noah. “Whatever light is in that boy, it has to be from God,” she says. “Where else could that be from? How could you go through what this little boy has been through and still blow kisses at the end of the surgery or give a thumbs-up and a high five or a fist bump to your doctor when you're barely awake from the anesthesia?

“Time and time again, Noah has taught me a lot. I've learned so many lessons on how to be grateful and how to not take these moments for granted but to celebrate everything.”

Michelle says that when she feels alone, she remembers Who is always with her. “I feel like, when I talk to God, that I can also talk to Bruce and that they can both hear me and that they both wrap their arms around me.”

Support from an unlikely community

The prayers of family, friends, neighbors, and church members along with the intercessions of people she’s never met—Moody Radio listeners—have made a lasting impact.

“As the hands and feet of Jesus, our listening audience had the unique privilege of being invited to walk with a family that has endured a lengthy health journey with such a young boy,” Marc Durkin says.

“From the first prayer request to Noah receiving a new liver to having finally been discharged from the hospital to continue his recovery from his home, our listeners joined Kurt, Kate, and me in crying out to the Lord on Noah’s behalf.”

Marc, Kurt, Kate, and the Moody Radio Florida team have been honored to come alongside Michelle and Noah in their time of need.

“The immense difficulty of Noah’s medical journey rallied our listeners, similar to Exodus 17 where Aaron and Hur held up Moses’ hands when he was tired,” Marc says. “The battle is the Lord’s, and the Lord has faithfully continued to work through the prayers of the Kurt and Kate Mornings Prayer Huddle to strengthen this precious family.”