Baby Brayton the Fighter!

Please help baby Brayton!
Brayton was born 5 weeks premature,on June 30th, 2008, to Aimee & Rick Lester of California. Brayton was born with a birth defect which caused his esophagus not to connect to his stomach during development.

Brayton spent the first 9 months of his life in the hospital NICU/PICU at a hospital that is more than 5 hours away from home. He has had surgeries to repair the defect but the repairs have not been totally successful and he has continued to suffer from leaks of the repair site, causing fluid to repeatedly enter his lungs and cause pneumonia which he has had several times now.

For a brief time, Brayton was stable enough to finally go home to be with his parents who would have the daunting challenge of caring for him with a feeding tube and watching for signs of complications and the stress of being over 5 hours away from the specialists that can best help him if he's in dire need. Shortly thereafter, Brayton began showing signs of complications and he was admitted to their local hospital where he began treatment for a new case of pneumonia. Unfortunately, he worsened and had to be airlifted back to the hospital that he spent his first 9 months of life at and so Brayton's fight continues.

Brayton's parents have endured tremendous financial hardships since Brayton's birth, due to the need to travel back and forth between home and the hospital to ensure Brayton could receive the benefits of his mom's breast milk and of course bonding with his parents while he spends most of his time being cared for by doctors and nurses in the hospital. Brayton's dad's job depends on the weather which causes a lot of time off with no pay and his mom can't work since she needs the flexibility to go be with Brayton and they can't afford childcare for their two daughters who must remain in school and who are not permitted entry into the ICU where Brayton is. Every day is a struggle for them - to do what's best for Brayton, to put food on the table and shelter over their heads while they also manage the stress and worry that goes with not knowing if your son will survive and thrive.

To help this struggling family, Diana Hartley started a fundraiser in July of 2008 to raise money from friends, family and online contributors. Without these contributions, Aimee and Rick would likely have become homeless and destitute. They are not out of the woods yet. Brayton is still 5 hours from home and needs his parents by his side. The family still struggles daily as Brayton's dad is unable to find stable work to help make ends meet. Please consider helping this family during their time of great need. If you are not able to donate, please pass the word along, and/or send them your prayers!

You may donate to this family using the link below. All donated monies go directly to the family. The donation account is carefully and responsibly managed and thoroughly documented. If you have any questions or concerns about it, please contact Diana at: icare4causes@gmail.com .

Thank you for your compassion for this family. They are incredibly grateful for any and all support they receive.