Anyone who sees me tweeting or posting on Facebook has probably come across messages I have been posting recently about a sweet little boy named Izaiah who lives here in San Diego. He is just 3 months younger than Jason, and his maternal grandparents live in my neighborhood.
I have been posting about him for the last few weeks to help raise awareness of his desperate situation. This is not a joke, nor is it some kind of internet hoax. Please read on....
This 21 month old toddler is gravely injured after being critically hurt in a horrible accident on the morning of October 18.
Izaiah and his grandfather were walking/strolling down the local thoroughfare in my neighborhood when an underage drunk driver who was trying to evade police jumped the curb and slammed into the back of them.
His grandfather (Abraham) sustained multiple broken bones, but is recovering and is out of the hospital. For Izaiah, however, it is much worse. He is currently at Rady Children's Hospital and in very bad shape.
When the car hit him, it made impact first on his chin, and disconnected his brain from his spinal cord. He went flying out of his stroller and suffered severe injuries to the back of his head and well as spinal cord breaks in two other spots. This caused Izaiah to be blind and completely incapacitated.
In the last two months he has undergone six surgeries where the doctors have fused his spinal cord back together and reconnected it to his brain. He has suffered some complications of infection where doctors had to cut his stomach open and work directly with the organs to hasten the healing process. His last surgery was just a few days ago, when a feeding tube was inserted directly to his stomach. This was to prevent pneumonia developing in his lungs if he were to gag and vomit.
I have been posting about him for the last few weeks to help raise awareness of his desperate situation. This is not a joke, nor is it some kind of internet hoax. Please read on....
This 21 month old toddler is gravely injured after being critically hurt in a horrible accident on the morning of October 18.
Izaiah and his grandfather were walking/strolling down the local thoroughfare in my neighborhood when an underage drunk driver who was trying to evade police jumped the curb and slammed into the back of them.
His grandfather (Abraham) sustained multiple broken bones, but is recovering and is out of the hospital. For Izaiah, however, it is much worse. He is currently at Rady Children's Hospital and in very bad shape.
When the car hit him, it made impact first on his chin, and disconnected his brain from his spinal cord. He went flying out of his stroller and suffered severe injuries to the back of his head and well as spinal cord breaks in two other spots. This caused Izaiah to be blind and completely incapacitated.
In the last two months he has undergone six surgeries where the doctors have fused his spinal cord back together and reconnected it to his brain. He has suffered some complications of infection where doctors had to cut his stomach open and work directly with the organs to hasten the healing process. His last surgery was just a few days ago, when a feeding tube was inserted directly to his stomach. This was to prevent pneumonia developing in his lungs if he were to gag and vomit.
He is still blind and may be that way permanently, and he cannot move any part of his body except for his hands and arms. Doctors cannot tell at this point whether he will ever walk again, or what the extent of his brain damage is.
The good news is that Izaiah has the spirit of a fighter. He shocked doctors once by waking up out of his coma mere hours before they were planning to disconnect him from life support. And just 2 weeks ago he was moved out of the ICU and into intermediate care. These are major milestones in his recovery but he has such a long way to go.
The good news is that Izaiah has the spirit of a fighter. He shocked doctors once by waking up out of his coma mere hours before they were planning to disconnect him from life support. And just 2 weeks ago he was moved out of the ICU and into intermediate care. These are major milestones in his recovery but he has such a long way to go.
The best part about his recovery so far is his smile. Through so much pain and fright, this sweet angel has begun to smile again! My heart swells with love every time I see this picture:
Izaiah's parents are very young, both just 21 years old and neither is insured. As you can imagine, the medical bills have been staggering, and there is no end in sight. The community has been working very hard to come to this family's aid, but there is always more than can be done.
A website has been set up for the family at http://www.izaiahwallis.com/ . Would you please take a few minutes out of your day to view the website? You will be able to watch a video of Izaiah with Jacob and Lucy, his parents, and also sees posts and updates about his condition.
A website has been set up for the family at http://www.izaiahwallis.com/ . Would you please take a few minutes out of your day to view the website? You will be able to watch a video of Izaiah with Jacob and Lucy, his parents, and also sees posts and updates about his condition.
A series of fund raisers just happened here in San Diego, but the family still needs additional help.
Please do what you can to help this family by donating any amount if possible, or even just spreading the word to your friends and family about this little boy's struggle.
Thank you for considering what you can do to help.
Love to all,
Natasha
God bless him and his family! I hope this brings more awareness to not drinking and driving. It is not worth it!
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