Chance Sheehe’s story: Faith, hope — and a fighting chance

When you’re at your lowest moment, having someone there to lift you up — literally, figuratively or both — can make all the difference. Even save a life.

For the Sheehe family of Bloomsburg, teams at Geisinger stepped in when they faced not one but two devastating crises. More than 2 months before her due date, Trish Sheehe awoke in the middle of the night in extreme pain. Her husband Ben rushed her to Geisinger Medical Center, where she was hurried into surgery and their son, Chance, was delivered. But the challenges were just beginning.

“When I got the first update, it was all bad news,” Mr. Sheehe says. “I think I actually fell on the ground.”

His wife was “fighting for her life” with massive hemorrhaging after her placenta began to separate from her uterus. And his newborn son had gone more than 15 minutes without a heartbeat. The doctor needed to know if they should stop resuscitation on the baby.

“I had to make a decision no one’s equipped to make,” Mr. Sheehe says. “Then a nurse came running in and said they had a heartbeat. And so a little bit of hope began, right at that moment.”

2026 Miracle Kid Chance Sheehe with his parents and sister.

Expert care and unrelenting faith

In the operating room, Ms. Sheehe was treated by an obstetrics team whose “calm but urgent presence was a lifeline,” Mr. Sheehe says. “Trish’s surgery lasted several hours, but thankfully the team was able to save her life due to their incredible efforts.”

Meanwhile, Chance was barely clinging to life in the NICU at Geisinger Janet Weis Children’s Hospital. “There was an incredible scene revolving around our son,” Mr. Sheehe recalls. “At least 5 sweat-soaked people in scrubs frantically worked to make adjustments every time one of the machines alarmed. We gathered around Chance’s bed and received the first of hundreds of daily updates.”

Although NICU doctors are no stranger to emergencies, Chance’s case stands out to neonatologist Maura Gable, DO, who stood by the family throughout their ordeal, which would stretch on for months.

“Chance Sheehe is a patient who will stick with me forever,” Dr. Gable says. “He has defied every statistic. In the early fragile moments of his life, when every breath felt borrowed, I witnessed a strength that defied science, not just in the baby, but in the family who stood steadfastly by his side.”

Ms. Sheehe says Dr. Gable provided not just outstanding care, but powerful emotional support.

“We were deep in the trenches,” she remembers. “The days were very dark. Chance was not responding, and we heard bad news after bad news.”

Then Dr. Gable stepped in.

“I was sitting by Chance’s crib, and this doctor could see I was having a rough morning,” Ms. Sheehe recalls. “She stopped doing rounds, held me and said, ‘I will walk with you. I believe in this child. I will never take away your hope.’”

Waiting — and a breakthrough

While Ms. Sheehe recovered, Chance’s initial lack of a heartbeat and oxygen deprivation had caused severe brain injury. After 6 weeks with no significant improvement in spite of the care team’s efforts, the family braced for the worst.

“Dr. Bob Tamburro in palliative care spent countless hours guiding us through decisions no parent should ever have to make,” Mr. Sheehe says.

Then Chance cried for the first time.

“To see a whole different child in the NICU was incredible,” Mr. Sheehe says. “I’ll never forget walking in. I can tell you where people were sitting, what everyone said. It was an amazing moment — and the beginning of our new life, which has been spectacular.”

Ms. Sheehe adds, “We’re lucky both Chance and I survived. But most of our luck comes from being treated by the doctors inside an incredible institution full of incredible people. Geisinger Medical Center is a place where hope, skill and compassion intersect. Our family is living proof of the miracles they can make happen.”

Appropriately, Chance Sheehe was named one of Geisinger’s 2026 Miracle Kids. As he grows and thrives, Dr. Gable finds herself changed by caring for him.

“That experience taught me to listen more deeply, to honor the family’s voice and to see resilience not only in the patient but in the love that surrounds them,” she says. “It shaped the way I practice medicine — grounded in empathy, collaboration and the belief that even in uncertainty, there is always room for hope.”