We would like to introduce our 9 year old son Ethan Carson. He is the most fun–loving, playful kid you will ever meet and asks everyone he encounters, “Hey, How are you?” He has the most infectious smile and some of his favorite things are race cars, the Georgia Bulldogs, bouncy houses and balls, swimming, video games, music (esp. Luke Bryan!), and the most important of all his iPad! Ethan is also obsessed with watching Fixer Upper and Flip or Flop on HGTVR and talks constantly about ‘beams‘ on the ceiling, lights and fans! 

While the 9 month pregnancy was a model, all of the troubles that Ethan encountered were during his birth. After a very long delivery, Ethan got stuck in the birth canal, and went without oxygen for a period of time. He spent two days in NICU with a one lung only working at 13%. He was such a fighter though and eventually came through and we brought him home after a week long stay in the hospital. It was not until about 8 months old that we discovered Ethan was not able to do some of the normal things that children his age should be doing. Things like sitting up, crawling, tummy time, etc. were not in line with other babies his age. We then set out to find out what was going on and began our journey with the many wonderful specialists and doctors at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. After several seizures, numerous EKG’s, MRI’s, and respiratory issues, at the age two, Ethan was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy (CP) and the more specific form be Spastic Diplegia. The form of CP and Spasticity Ethan has is a neuromuscular condition of hypertonia – manifested as an especially high and constant ‘stiffness‘ or ‘tightness‘ in the muscles of the lower extremities. This form of CP and Spasticity can be quite crippling in that it causes some major abilities in his physical movement and obvious issues with just day–to–day functions such as dressing, bathing, brushing teeth, combing hair, along with speech delay. 

Ethan has not let his disability become a crutch for himself. In fact, he does not even know that he has this ailment; he crawls, walks in his Kaye walker, and wheels himself in his wheelchair throughout his day as if he was a normal boy – not letting his disability define him. He loves going to school each day and of course the “School Bus” ride is a highlight that he looks forward too on a daily basis. His favorite meals are pancakes (all day, every day), pizza with chocolate milk and his Mommy’s spaghetti. 

Photography by Nicole W Photography

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