Getting to Know the Omaha Down Syndrome Parents Network Director

It was May 1998. Mary McHale was 42 and pregnant — carrying the only baby she'd ever have.

During her pregnancy, she chose not to have prenatal testing. If there were complications, she said, she didn't want to spend the whole time worrying.

"I wanted to enjoy it since I knew I wasn't going to get pregnant again," she said.

At her appointments, doctors told her things were fine.

But after Daniel was born, he wasn't crying.

Soon, the couple learned that Daniel had Down syndrome and other complications, including two holes in his heart and 90 percent hearing loss in his right ear.

He later had two heart surgeries at 9 weeks old and 16 months old.

Doctors gave Daniel a 50-50 chance of survival. In case of the worst, his parents planned his funeral.

Looking for a miracle, the couple turned to their faith to get them through.

"Somebody had to have been looking out for him," McHale, 53, said.

Daniel is now 10 and will be in the fifth grade this fall at Western Hills Magnet Center in the Omaha school district. He plays soccer and softball, swims and takes karate lessons.

McHale wanted to connect with other families with children who have disabilities, so in 1999 she and her husband started the Omaha Down Syndrome Parent Network. She serves as the organization's president.

The group serves about 250 families and offers workshops and seminars around the city.

A major fundraising event for the organization and other groups serving people with disabilities is the Buddy Walk, which raised about $105,000 last year. This year's event will be held in October at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

McHale is a graduate of Omaha Burke High School. She got her bachelor's degree in dietetics from College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph, Minn., a master's in nutrition from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a master's in marketing from Creighton University.

She has worked as a registered dietitian and in accounting and management. After leaving Cox Business Services in 2006, she started working with the nonprofit Omaha Schools Foundation.

"I needed to give back somehow," McHale said. "It was absolutely the correct move for me."

For the future, McHale's focus is on Daniel.

"My goal for Daniel is that he's living outside the home at age 23, and he can take his parents out to eat once a month," she said.

• Contact the writer: 444-1351, qianna.bradley@owh.com

Story reprinted with permission.