Wilder, the baby that almost wasn't!
Donation protected
Hey everyone,
So this story is one of my best friend Brent, his beautiful wife Catt, and their adorable, strong, unbelievably happy son Wilder! Please read to entirety. It's long and I apologize, but please read.
I'll start with a brief history of Brent and his wife Catt. These two are practically inseparable. The love they have for one another rivals that of any couple on this round rock we call earth, this I am sure! When these two met some 6 years ago or more it was assumed it would be nothing more than young love and a short Facebook official relationship, obviously wrong. It quickly grew to something more. Brent loved this girl, and Catt, she trumped his love tenfold! Not to say Brent didn't love her as much, but he couldn't shake this girl's love for him even if he were Barry Sander (one of the greatest running backs of all-time)! It was crazy how much these two were in love and at times, sickening. Not due to public displays of affection, but more so the fact that you too wanted something of that caliber, not me of course, but for all those mushy types out there. Sorry, I digress! Brent has always been a great guy, but she made him better! She was a home school girl, raised in the church, and family oriented! Brent was a public school guy, athletic (played college baseball), and came from a divorced household. I always felt like he was looking for himself, meaning he never quite knew who he was or what he was meant for, whereas Catt knew who she was and what it was she wanted to do. Overtime, however, Brent came to be what it was he was meant to be, partly thanks to her and that of religion. He found church and his calling. He progressed from casual church goer to a full on messenger of Christ through the Elevation Church where he is a singer, on stage, every Sunday here in the Charlotte area! He loves it and Catt is always there to support him and show her love for Christ. Anyways, they were married about a year in a half ago, I was the best man, and it was awesome. Shortly after, about month or so, they found out they were to be parents! They were elated! However, they didn't want to know the gender of the child until he/she was born. Spoiler alert, it was a boy. His name is Wilder! So as the pregnancy progressed everything was normal until unexpected news hit. Their unborn child was diagnosed with what at first was thought to be a tumor inside his chest. It was pushing against the heart and lungs, so much so that it pushed them all to one side. This was devastating to say the least, but these two are strong and prayer was a constant. They would never let you know how afraid they were, but we knew. As the pregnancy furthered, and the doctor visits piled up from one specialist here, one specialist there, back and forth 2 hours this way, 45 minutes that way. After many hospital visits with nothing more to build on the doctors had a bit of good news. They finally determined it was not a tumor, relief right, but instead something else. They determined it was either a hole in the diaphragm causing ALL the organs inside to slip into the chest or the organs had all developed inside the chest. Either way, the baby's heart was pushed all the way to the right side as well as the lungs while the rest of the organs sat on the left side. Obviously, this is not even close to where these organs go. This put an unbelievable amount of stress on the baby. They were told that with further growth like this his lungs would be underdeveloped and his heart would not be efficient. The doctors and specialist all gave this baby a dim outlook. He was given at best a 50/50 chance, that was the best case scenario and one of the worst parts of it all was that there was absolutely nothing the doctors could do until he was born. Surgery was a must they said. As soon as he was strong enough to handle it, if he survives, surgery was happening. So, with this new information and the lack of physical ability to help until birth Brent and Catt, along with us all, did what we could, prayed! Now I'm not a big religious guy, and there are many people out there in my boat, but I respect people's beliefs and don't question them, so whether you're religious or not don't let me lose you here. I love my friend and only he and two others in my life would I call a brother! So with that, I too prayed. As things went on, stress and the unknown kept creeping up, but they stayed the course and never cracked, though every doctor visit ended with the same news, not good. Finally, the day was here. The baby was coming. All the anxiety turned to joy, yet, it was still on the forefront of our thoughts. What if this, what if that, it was a constant for everyone. At least now, something could be done, physically right? So, I'm at work and I had been calling every hour I swear, to see if it was here and nothing yet. Finally, Brent calls and with joyful tears he says, "It's a boy!" I was out on a job site at the time and I started crying. I couldn't believe it, he was a dad and he told me "You're an Uncle!" For my best friend to say that to me, and us not being true brothers I lost it. This little guy was here. Wilder was here! After, calming down I finally asked, well what's the news? What came next was truly a miracle. The doctors took him away immediately, ran test, and everything under the sun to see what things were looking like. They couldn't believe this little guy. Even though his organs were all packed inside his tiny chest, his heart pushed to the wrong side and his lungs smothered by all the organs, he was as strong as an ox! His heart was strong, his lungs developed and the worse thing out of all this, they would have to do microscopic surgery to pull the organs that are not suppose to be in the chest back through the small hole in the diaphragm which they came through. It was absolutely the best case scenario. Actually, it was better. The doctors couldn't believe it. They said that's not what was suppose to happen. The following day the surgery was done and Wilder was now a healthy baby. Though healthy, he had to stay in the hospital for a couple weeks until everything healed. You could only visit him one at a time with one of the parents. You were required to wear a medical gown, face mask, and gloves. You could not hold him and it was urged to keep touching to a minimum, but it was worth it knowing what could have been. Again, I'm not a big religious guy, but I believe, due to Brent and Catt's unwavering love for Christ and the prayers from others, the reason why Wilder is here with us today and healthy is because of this very reason. This kid has the greatest parents in the world! Brent is an unbelievable dad and Catt is an unbelievable mom. Wilder couldn't be more lucky! With all that though, the point of sharing this story is to ask for help.
These two, both full time, employed individuals at the time he was born are now fighting major doctor bills. The amount goes into 6 digits, well over 100,000 dollars. Brent is the sole provider at the time while Catt tends Wilder and the home until she returns to work. As of now their total annual income is roughly 30,000 a year, not nearly enough to cover house bills, and so forth. Let alone adding in these doctor bills! They have no idea I am writing their story in hopes of help. These two are some of the greatest people I know and would honestly do anything they could do to help others. I now ask for someone to help them for once!! Thank you for reading this story about my friends and their bundle of happiness Wilder! If you could please donate. Anything helps! I just want them to not worry and for them to be given help for once, just as they have given help to others. Thank you again, and absolutely anything helps!
So this story is one of my best friend Brent, his beautiful wife Catt, and their adorable, strong, unbelievably happy son Wilder! Please read to entirety. It's long and I apologize, but please read.
I'll start with a brief history of Brent and his wife Catt. These two are practically inseparable. The love they have for one another rivals that of any couple on this round rock we call earth, this I am sure! When these two met some 6 years ago or more it was assumed it would be nothing more than young love and a short Facebook official relationship, obviously wrong. It quickly grew to something more. Brent loved this girl, and Catt, she trumped his love tenfold! Not to say Brent didn't love her as much, but he couldn't shake this girl's love for him even if he were Barry Sander (one of the greatest running backs of all-time)! It was crazy how much these two were in love and at times, sickening. Not due to public displays of affection, but more so the fact that you too wanted something of that caliber, not me of course, but for all those mushy types out there. Sorry, I digress! Brent has always been a great guy, but she made him better! She was a home school girl, raised in the church, and family oriented! Brent was a public school guy, athletic (played college baseball), and came from a divorced household. I always felt like he was looking for himself, meaning he never quite knew who he was or what he was meant for, whereas Catt knew who she was and what it was she wanted to do. Overtime, however, Brent came to be what it was he was meant to be, partly thanks to her and that of religion. He found church and his calling. He progressed from casual church goer to a full on messenger of Christ through the Elevation Church where he is a singer, on stage, every Sunday here in the Charlotte area! He loves it and Catt is always there to support him and show her love for Christ. Anyways, they were married about a year in a half ago, I was the best man, and it was awesome. Shortly after, about month or so, they found out they were to be parents! They were elated! However, they didn't want to know the gender of the child until he/she was born. Spoiler alert, it was a boy. His name is Wilder! So as the pregnancy progressed everything was normal until unexpected news hit. Their unborn child was diagnosed with what at first was thought to be a tumor inside his chest. It was pushing against the heart and lungs, so much so that it pushed them all to one side. This was devastating to say the least, but these two are strong and prayer was a constant. They would never let you know how afraid they were, but we knew. As the pregnancy furthered, and the doctor visits piled up from one specialist here, one specialist there, back and forth 2 hours this way, 45 minutes that way. After many hospital visits with nothing more to build on the doctors had a bit of good news. They finally determined it was not a tumor, relief right, but instead something else. They determined it was either a hole in the diaphragm causing ALL the organs inside to slip into the chest or the organs had all developed inside the chest. Either way, the baby's heart was pushed all the way to the right side as well as the lungs while the rest of the organs sat on the left side. Obviously, this is not even close to where these organs go. This put an unbelievable amount of stress on the baby. They were told that with further growth like this his lungs would be underdeveloped and his heart would not be efficient. The doctors and specialist all gave this baby a dim outlook. He was given at best a 50/50 chance, that was the best case scenario and one of the worst parts of it all was that there was absolutely nothing the doctors could do until he was born. Surgery was a must they said. As soon as he was strong enough to handle it, if he survives, surgery was happening. So, with this new information and the lack of physical ability to help until birth Brent and Catt, along with us all, did what we could, prayed! Now I'm not a big religious guy, and there are many people out there in my boat, but I respect people's beliefs and don't question them, so whether you're religious or not don't let me lose you here. I love my friend and only he and two others in my life would I call a brother! So with that, I too prayed. As things went on, stress and the unknown kept creeping up, but they stayed the course and never cracked, though every doctor visit ended with the same news, not good. Finally, the day was here. The baby was coming. All the anxiety turned to joy, yet, it was still on the forefront of our thoughts. What if this, what if that, it was a constant for everyone. At least now, something could be done, physically right? So, I'm at work and I had been calling every hour I swear, to see if it was here and nothing yet. Finally, Brent calls and with joyful tears he says, "It's a boy!" I was out on a job site at the time and I started crying. I couldn't believe it, he was a dad and he told me "You're an Uncle!" For my best friend to say that to me, and us not being true brothers I lost it. This little guy was here. Wilder was here! After, calming down I finally asked, well what's the news? What came next was truly a miracle. The doctors took him away immediately, ran test, and everything under the sun to see what things were looking like. They couldn't believe this little guy. Even though his organs were all packed inside his tiny chest, his heart pushed to the wrong side and his lungs smothered by all the organs, he was as strong as an ox! His heart was strong, his lungs developed and the worse thing out of all this, they would have to do microscopic surgery to pull the organs that are not suppose to be in the chest back through the small hole in the diaphragm which they came through. It was absolutely the best case scenario. Actually, it was better. The doctors couldn't believe it. They said that's not what was suppose to happen. The following day the surgery was done and Wilder was now a healthy baby. Though healthy, he had to stay in the hospital for a couple weeks until everything healed. You could only visit him one at a time with one of the parents. You were required to wear a medical gown, face mask, and gloves. You could not hold him and it was urged to keep touching to a minimum, but it was worth it knowing what could have been. Again, I'm not a big religious guy, but I believe, due to Brent and Catt's unwavering love for Christ and the prayers from others, the reason why Wilder is here with us today and healthy is because of this very reason. This kid has the greatest parents in the world! Brent is an unbelievable dad and Catt is an unbelievable mom. Wilder couldn't be more lucky! With all that though, the point of sharing this story is to ask for help.
These two, both full time, employed individuals at the time he was born are now fighting major doctor bills. The amount goes into 6 digits, well over 100,000 dollars. Brent is the sole provider at the time while Catt tends Wilder and the home until she returns to work. As of now their total annual income is roughly 30,000 a year, not nearly enough to cover house bills, and so forth. Let alone adding in these doctor bills! They have no idea I am writing their story in hopes of help. These two are some of the greatest people I know and would honestly do anything they could do to help others. I now ask for someone to help them for once!! Thank you for reading this story about my friends and their bundle of happiness Wilder! If you could please donate. Anything helps! I just want them to not worry and for them to be given help for once, just as they have given help to others. Thank you again, and absolutely anything helps!
Organizer and beneficiary
Josh Salay
Organizer
Rock Hill, SC
brent oakes
Beneficiary