Dr Jeff Mullan
This photo is of a 21-week-old unborn baby named Samuel Alexander Armas, who is being
operated on by surgeon named Joseph Bruner. The baby was diagnosed with spina bifida and
would not survive if removed from his mother's womb.
Little Samuel's mother, Julie Armas, is an obstetrics nurse in Atlanta. She knew of Dr. Bruner's
remarkable surgical procedure. Practicing at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville,
he performs these special operations while the baby is still in the womb.
During the procedure, the doctor removes the uterus via C-section and makes a small incision
to operate on the baby. As Dr. Bruner completed the surgery on Samuel, the little baby
reached his tiny, but fully developed hand through the incision and firmly grasped the
surgeon's finger.
Dr. Bruner was reported as saying that when his finger was grasped, it was the most
emotional moment of his life, and that for an instant during the procedure he was just frozen,
totally immobile.
The photograph captures this amazing event with perfect clarity. The editors titled the picture,
"Hand of Hope." The text explaining the picture begins, "The tiny hand of 21-week-old fetus
Samuel Alexander Armas emerges from the mother's uterus to grasp the finger of Dr. Joseph
Bruner as if thanking the doctor for the gift of life."
Little Samuel's mother said they "wept for days" when they saw the picture. She said, "The
photo reminds us pregnancy isn't about disability or an illness, it's about a little person"
Samuel was born in perfect health, the operation 100 percent successful. Now see the actual
picture, and it is awesome...incredible....
