Jackson Messerschmidt Memorial Fund

Jackson Messerschmidt was born October 28, 2011 to loving parents Lindsey & Brad Messerschmidt.  Following a healthy pregnancy and successful delivery, Jackson spent the first 5 to 6 months of his life being a healthy, happy baby.

However, by 15 months, Jackson had lost his ability to roll over, bring toys to his mouth, swallow liquids and solids, babble, developed Cortical Vision Impairment and nystagmus, and he even lost his ability to hold his head up.
Above: Jackson and his cousin 

He never learned to sit because his symptoms started so early. At 11 months of age, he was diagnosed with a severe and rare form of epilepsy called Infantile Spasms that was successfully treated with an injection drug called ACTH. This rare form of epilepsy was related to the disease causing all of his other issues but the doctors are unable to diagnose this disease despite multiple tests and lots of observation. His epilepsy certainly caused some regression, but the doctors believe there was something else at play.

At 15 months, following the loss of digestive functions, Jackson received a feeding tube, and continued to receive feeds in this form as he could no longer handle swallowing solids or liquids. 

By this time, Jackson had made pretty good friends at Seattle Children's Hospital, and accumlated a healthy fanclub. His visits often included consults from kidney doctors, urologists, neurologists, GI docs, along with ortho and rehab doctors. Despite his limited digestion and many emergency hospitalizations, Jackson continued to amaze everyone with his strength. On good days, Jackson, Lindsey, and Brad were able to enjoy small outings near their home in Spokane. These adventures were made possible with the use of a small backpack that held Jackson's food supply. 

In the months that followed, Jackson experienced a roller coaster of medical ups and downs. At times, he surprised everyone by rolling over. 
Although he was the most comfortable on his back (as his core and legs could not support him in an upright position), Jackson was able to experience "standing" in his specialized Stander for a short period of time. This was a result of extensive physical and occupational therapy.  There were some very bright moments in this stretch, as Jackson's seizures eventually calmed, partially due to the availabiltiy of low THC/high CBD medical cannabis oil (this make-up didn't give Jackson a "high" like typical marijuana), administered through his feeding tube.

Despite his freedom from seizures, and showing off his sweet smiles, Jackson began to experience increased pain. Here is a passage from December, 2014 while at Seattle Children's hospital. Written by his mom, Lindsey.

"Happy New Years Eve everyone! Jackson is smiling at all of you from Seattle Children's! He has unfortunately had a very tough couple months. He has been having severe episodes of stomach pain and vomiting that have just continued to get worse to the point that we are unable to keep him comfortable at home, and he is unable to get the nutrition and hydration he needs... This is definitely not the way we wanted to celebrate the New Year, but we sure have a lot to be thankful for in 2014. We will post about his progress in the next couple days. Thank you to all the Jackson followers for always being so supportive!"


This was Jackson's final Seattle Children's Hospital visit. Although his medical fanclub worked tirelessly to make Jackson comfortable (which has always been the #1 goal), his body was no longer coping with the "feeds" that provided sustenance & hydration, or the medication that provided relief to his body. His discomfort had amplified, the bad times so painfully eclipsing the good ones.


In early January of 2015, Jackson returned to Spokane, back into the arms of his established round-the-clock, in-home care team. However, just over a month later, Jackson's condition worsened further, prompting more medical emergency visits, this time at Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane, WA. 


"We have been wanting to update everyone on Jackson lately, but it's been very hard because we don't want to give bad news. But Jackie has been suffering terribly since coming home from the hospital. He has severe nausea, vomiting, retching, and horrible pain. As much as we hoped he would just get better, the reality is that he has not gotten better. He has gotten worse. After attempting to hospitalize him yet again, Seattle Children's and Spokane doctors came together and we all had a discussion. There is no "test" to do on Jackson to find out exactly what's wrong. There is also no "treatment" to make him better. Jackson suffers every single day and it is time that we make him comfortable. We have decided to put Jackson on Hospice and allow him to finally be pain free."

"Jackson is resting and happy. He is very comfortable this morning and as hard as this whole process is, it is such a good feeling knowing we made the right choice for Jackson. The moment we turned Jackson's feeds off, was the moment he started getting more comfortable. ... Jackson is getting close to finally being free from his suffering."

On the morning of February 23rd, Jackson passed peacefully in the arms of his parents, surrounded by dear family and friends. 

Jackson has made an unforgettable impression on many lives. He will be remembered fondly, and sincerely missed. 



“I’m glad we had the times together just to laugh and sing a song, seems like we just got started and then before you know it, the times we had together were gone.”

― Dr. Seuss


Within his immediate family, Jackson is survived by his parents, Brad & Lindsey Messerscmidt, and younger brother, Daniel Messerschmidt.