Shepherd was born on Feb 4th, 2025, in Brandon, FL, with an extremely rare birth defect called Tracheal Agenesis. What this means is that Shep was born without a trachea, meaning there is no natural way to get oxygen into his lungs. There are less than 200 documented cases in medical literature World-wide. He's undergone 7 surgical procedures to build an airway out of what is technically his esophagus, and through it all he's shown us strength and resilience for which we are grateful Shep is here and fighting every day.

Currently he is still in the NICU at Johns Hopkins All Children's in St. Pete, FL where his entire team has been nothing short of amazing. With each procedure, we are one step closer to bringing him home. Once home, the work does not stop. He will need in-home care, which is only somewhat covered by insurance and the reason for this fundraiser. He is our little fighter, and we anxiously await the day we can bring him home.

Update*** Shep recieved his final staged repair of his airway reconstruction. His team used titanium splints in combination with rib cartilidge to give his airway enough rigidity to prevent collapsing, something never attempted before. He's healed up well and has since been extubated. We're waiting to see how he does with his new trachea and no ET tube.

10/23/25 update...

Shepherd has been extubated for almost 3 weeks now. We've had a few bumps and bruises that almost ended in reintubation but he fought through them and is still getting used to his cannula and cpap settings. He is progressing nicely and can hopefully restart G-tube feeds again soon. He seems much happier without the ET tube and has been giving us some much needed smiles lately.