Dec 22, 2017 4 min read

In the months leading up to the birth of their son, Beallsville couple Brittany Mancini and Ben Sakel were getting worried.

Mancini’s legs swelled like balloons. The 23-year-old, who works at a pharmacy, would become so fatigued, she would sit down and instantly fall asleep. Her breathing was labored.

Sakel took Mancini to the doctor, who reassured them her symptoms were all a part of pregnancy. Mancini was advised to rest with her legs elevated and sent home.

On the morning of Nov. 19, Mancini woke Sakel.

“Her water broke,” said Sakel, 29. “I’m like, ‘There’s no way. It’s too early.'”

Baby Bentley Michael was due Dec. 31, but came that morning, weighing 4 pounds, 2 ounces. Mother and baby seemed to be OK, but hours before Mancini was to be discharged from Washington Hospital, a nurse became concerned about her cough. A chest X-ray revealed Mancini’s aortic valve – one of four valves in the human heart – was severely damaged.

This time, Sakel was pulled from sleep by a phone call at 3 a.m. Mancini was crying. She would have to have surgery immediately to repair the valve.

“A nurse named Shannon caught it,” said Sakel. “Thank God for her. We found out later that’s why (Bentley) came early. Her body couldn’t handle it.”

The surgeon later told the couple the valve was so damaged, if Mancini would have been in labor any longer, or if the nurse hadn’t noticed something was wrong, Mancini probably wouldn’t have survived. She was also found to have a blood infection, which required the insertion of an intravenous line for long-term antibiotic therapy.

While Mancini, with the help of weekly visits from a nurse, is healing, on the same day of her surgery, Bentley’s oxygen levels became dangerously low. He was flown by medical helicopter to Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, where he remains.

“They can’t figure out what to do,” said Sakel.

Mancini was separated from the baby for 10 days as she recovered in Washington Hospital. Sakel, who divided his time between his son and girlfriend, now spends most of his time with Mancini in Pittsburgh, sleeping on small sofas in the hospital to be near Bentley.

Bentley lost weight after his birth, dropping down to 3 pounds, 8 ounces. Things were looking up when his weight increased and he was transferred to the Children’s Home & Lemieux Family Center. Over the weekend, though, he was moved back to the hospital when tests revealed his blood count was low and he needed a blood transfusion.

In addition to worrying about the health of his girlfriend and baby, Sakel, who runs his own company, Sakel’s Concrete Solutions, is concerned about finances. Mancini has barely worked due to being at the hospital. He used the money he had in a savings account to pay all their bills and rent.

“We went from both working to none of us working. I sat down and did the numbers and they weren’t there. I thought (Bentley) would be home soon, but it’s a month later, and no discharge date,” he said. “The thing is, we work so hard. We didn’t expect this, one thing after another.”

He said he and Mancini are grateful for their friends and neighbors, who have contributed to a GoFundMe page he set up, and others who have donated money. A spaghetti dinner to benefit the couple is being planned.

The couple doesn’t have plans for Christmas, other than to be with their baby.

“We’re scared to leave him,” said Sakel.