Jonathan is 7 years old and was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, epilepsy, cortical blindness and moderate bilateral hearing loss all by his first birthday. At this time, Jonathan is non-verbal and can not sit stand or walk without maximum assistance. When Jonathan was 4 and 1/2 he was hospitalized for the first time with pneumonia. He was in the hospital for 4 and 1/2 months and underwent 5 different surgeries within a 5 week period. It was necessary for Jonathan to have a g-tube placed for feeding directly into his stomach because he was aspirating on his food and saliva. It was also necessary for him to have a tracheotomy due to his airway closing in on itself.
Since that first hospitalization unfortunately there have been quite a few more illness (mostly pneumonia) and surgery. Jonathan underwent a 6 hour surgery in November to put his hips back into place with plates and screws and just in August had that hardware removed. Jonathan has started communicating with eye movement (up for yes; down for no) which is very exciting for all of us. He continues to face every obstacle with an infectious smile that seems to lift everyone around him. We would like to thank Jacks Kids for all they do for all the Jacks Kids families, you have no idea how much your kindness and generosity have done.
