Little Summer was born by emergency c-section after being extremely low on oxygen for 40 mins. She came out completely blue from not being able to breathe and was immediately transferred to Emory NICU for cooling therapy. Her mom was told over the phone that Summer was having her body temperature cooled to try and minimize the hits to her organs from the lack of oxygen, called Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy. Summer was cleared to leave after 10 days, proof that she had major brain damage.
It took 18 months for the doctors to catch that the milestones weren’t happening. She couldn’t sit up, had poor head control, no control of limbs or saliva, a swallowing dysfunction, epilepsy, and mixed cerebral palsy. Her muscle tone is tight and painful in some parts of her body and low tone in other areas. Summer’s main caretaker is her single mother, Shanon. Taking care of her is a struggle 24/7, now that she is getting heavier. Shanon has injured her back and neck lifting, bathing, diapering and feeding her. They are in desperate need of their home to be set up to make their lives less demanding physically and mentally. Shanon worries that after 10 years of living this way, it will only get harder and more taxing on her body and therefore Summer, as a result.
