On a crisp September day in 2025, Marla Wendel and her son Daniel stood together at Yellowstone National Park, a moment captured in a photograph that radiates both resilience and joy. Their journey to that scenic overlook was anything but ordinary, shaped three decades earlier by a medical crisis that could have ended both of their lives before it truly began. Their story, recently shared on NPR’s Morning Edition as part of the StoryCorps project, is one of unwavering determination, maternal love, and the long shadow cast by a split-second health emergency.
Back in 1993, Marla was three months pregnant when she suffered a debilitating stroke. According to NPR, the stroke struck suddenly on a Saturday night, disrupting the familiar rhythms of her young family’s life. Marla recalled, “As the night progressed, I noticed my leg was giving out. And you have an older sibling, so I started thinking, like, I have got to get him into bed.” Even in distress, her instinct was to care for her children. She recounted with a laugh, “I feel bad, but I heaved him into the cage.” Her son Daniel, now an adult, gently teased her about the slip—“You meant crib, right?”—to which Marla replied, “Oh, what'd I say? ... (Laughter) I did, yes. Thank you.”
The stroke profoundly impacted Marla’s motor skills and memory, leaving her with lasting effects that would shape both her own life and her children’s. Doctors faced a wrenching decision: would it be safer to terminate the pregnancy, given the risks to both mother and unborn child? Marla’s answer was resolute. As she told StoryCorps, “At one point, when I was pregnant, they were like, are you going to terminate the baby or not? It's risky to continue for your health, for the baby's health. And I was like, of course we're going to keep the baby.”
Despite the medical uncertainty, Marla’s conviction never wavered. “I felt so strongly you were supposed to be here,” she told Daniel during their StoryCorps conversation in Chicago. “I was just thinking, like, I want to be your mother. I want to be your mother so bad.” The months that followed were fraught with anxiety and physical hardship, but she pressed forward, determined to bring her son safely into the world.
Her perseverance was rewarded: Daniel was delivered healthy at 33 weeks. Today, he is 32 years old, a testament to the power of hope and the miracles that can emerge from adversity. Their StoryCorps interview, broadcast on December 5, 2025, and archived at the Library of Congress, offered a rare window into the way trauma and love can intertwine across generations.
Reflecting on his upbringing, Daniel admitted that the family’s circumstances shaped his understanding of what was normal. “You know, I was probably a teenager before I realized that not everyone has traumatic brain injuries and that's not just some fun game me and my mom play... when she forgets words.” He added, “But I always knew that you risked your life so that I could come into this world. That was always in the background.”
For Marla, the decision to continue the pregnancy was never in doubt, even as she struggled with the aftereffects of the stroke. Her determination was matched by a deep sense of purpose. “If you weren't here with us, the world would not be as good of a place—really, truly. I can't think of it. It was a miracle that the two of us made it.”
Their conversation was laced with humor and warmth, even as it touched on the pressures Daniel felt growing up. “You had said that it made you feel pressured,” Marla observed. Daniel replied, “Yeah, but pressure to do amazing things with your life. That's not a bad thing.” Marla was quick to clarify her hopes for her son: “Yes, but I never want amazing things like become the president of the United States or go to the moon. But, like, that you would bring joy to people 'cause you have such a kind heart, and you're such a good person.” Daniel, ever humble, credited his mother for setting the example: “I mean, I had a pretty good example.”
Their story, originally aired on NPR, resonated with listeners for its candor and the way it illuminated the invisible threads that bind families together through hardship. The interview, supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the National Endowment for the Arts, is now part of the national StoryCorps archive—a living testament to the everyday courage found in ordinary lives.
The challenges Marla faced didn’t end with Daniel’s birth. The stroke’s impact on her memory and decision-making lingered. Daniel teased her gently about her indecisiveness: “You have so much trouble making decisions about everything under the sun.” Marla laughed in agreement, “I know. I do. I do. That is true.” Yet, when it mattered most, she was unshakeable. Her conviction to keep her pregnancy was absolute—a decision that would shape both their lives in profound ways.
For Daniel, the knowledge of his mother’s sacrifice was both a source of gratitude and a quiet burden. “But I always knew that you risked your life so that I could come into this world. That was always in the background.” The pressure he felt, he explained, was not to achieve grandiose feats, but to live a life worthy of the risks his mother took. Marla, for her part, hoped only that he would “bring joy to people,” emphasizing kindness and goodness over external achievement.
Their shared humor, even about difficult moments—like Marla’s word mix-ups or her memory lapses—became a way to cope, to normalize, and to find lightness in the aftermath of trauma. “I was probably a teenager before I realized that not everyone has traumatic brain injuries and that's not just some fun game me and my mom play... when she forgets words,” Daniel reflected with a laugh. Their bond, forged in crisis, was strengthened by these small, everyday moments of connection.
Photos of the pair—one from the summer of 1995 near Niagara Falls, another from Yellowstone in 2025—underscore just how far they’ve come together. Each image is a quiet celebration of survival, resilience, and the enduring power of family.
As their story now finds a permanent home in the Library of Congress, it stands as a reminder that miracles sometimes come in the form of ordinary people making extraordinary choices. Marla’s unwavering belief that Daniel was “supposed to be here” shaped not just his life, but the lives of all who know their story. And as Daniel put it, “I had a pretty good example.”
