Colton Ramey is a 6-year-old kindergarten student at W. R. Castle in Johnson County. He is currently in Cincinnati Children’s hospital and has been there for the last month. His mother Heather O’Brian is a single mother. She has dedicated her life to keeping Colton healthy and providing him with everything, he needs.

​Colton was born on March 5, 2015 by an emergency C-section weighing 1 pound 7 ounces. When he was born, cried for a brief moment and then he quit breathing. At that time, he was placed on a ventilator. The doctors soon discovered that Colton had Pulmonary valve stenosis of his heart. In April while still hospitalized, they discovered that he had also suffered a small brain bleed when he was born. When Colton weighed only 3 pounds, he also was found to have blockage in his heart, which was repaired in emergency surgery at Cincinnati Children’s hospital. At that point, Heather was going back and forth from Johnson County and she ended up with blood clots that made travel difficult. While traveling back to the hospital, Heather was notified that Colton had developed a blood clot in his leg and his kidneys were shutting down, she was told to get to the hospital as quickly as possible as his leg would need to be amputated. They also told her he would not make it through surgery and asked her if she wanted to withdraw care and she would be able to hold him until he passed. Heather refused and advocated strongly for her son. She would not give up on him and wanted all measures taken. His heart stopped which required Colton to be resuscitated and after being with his mom, Colton made a complete turnaround, and was able to keep his leg. Colton had to have a tracheotomy as they told Heather he would have to grow before removing the ventilator. Colton made progress and was removed from the ventilator. He had a feeding tube placed for nutrition. After 10 months in the hospital, Colton was able to come home to Johnson County for the first time.

​The trach was removed 2 years ago and Colton was home receiving physical, occupational and speech therapies. In December 2019, Colton was diagnosed with RSV and ended up in the PICU on life support with another life threatening illness. He was in the hospital for a month while recovering.

​After recovering from RSV, he began having issues with his digestion. These issues ended up causing a block in his intestines and he ended up having an ileostomy placed in November 2021. He was in the hospital for long periods in November, coming home on the week of Thanksgiving. He ended up back in the hospital in Cincinnati soon after coming home because part of his intestines were twisted and lost blood flow and a section had to be removed. He was in the hospital for another 3 weeks following this surgery, coming home in time to spend Christmas. Then Colton had a prolapse of his intestine and was rushed back by his mother to Cincinnati and he was hospitalized at this time for 2 weeks. He was able to come home, but had to go back only a few days later as he had gotten the norovirus, this caused a high fever and severe intestinal issues. He had to have a picc line placed in his arm for nutrition. Then this past Sunday, Colton tested positive for Covid. Due to all of his current medical issues, he can only be given nutrition and lipids through the picc line. His ostomy continues to prolapse , so they may have to do surgery to try to repair that. Heather has been unable to work while Colton was in the hospital. She has inquired, but been unable to secure a part-time job even at the hospital. He may lose his social security as he has been in the hospital for almost 30 days. That will leave them with no income.

​Throughout his entire life, Heather has been there by his side and she has advocated for him and kept him happy and well taken care of. Colton has been diagnosed with autism and Heather has always made sure that Colton receives the services he needs to provide the best life possible. For the past 3 years, Heather has done this as a single mom. She has been unable to work outside of the home. She works to keep Colton safe, healthy and happy. If not for Heather, Colton may not have survived. Because Colton is in the hospital, the income that Heather and Colton have, has been drastically cut. She is concerned about providing a roof over their heads and being able to provide for the basic needs of life.

​Colton is a happy little boy. He loves his iPad and watching his favorite movies like Frozen and Lion King. He is precious and he is a blessing to all of those who meet him.