On the evening of December 7th, Ireland and Gabe found their best friend and roommate incoherent and not fully responsive. After trying to wake him and care for him, Gabe contacted Emerson’s mom, Heather Hardman, to come and help guide them on what to do for him. Heather arrived shortly after and called the paramedics.

Heather and her boys have allowed me to make a GoFundMe for Emerson on their behalf while they endure this difficult and tragic situation.

Emerson does not have medical insurance at this time. He’s a sweet, and incredibly funny, 18-year-old who was preparing to take an aviation course to become a pilot. Please open your hearts and donate to his medical care in the following months.

I will leave Heather’s personal updates as she posts here. Please continue to pray for Emerson and his family as he fights for his life.

Heather Hardman 12/10/25

I want to thank all of you for the prayers and words of encouragement you have shared with my family as we navigate this truly horrific experience in our lives.

Sunday evening, Emerson Hardman, my 19-year-old son, suffered a hemorrhagic stroke caused by a ruptured AVM. Along with this, he had a seizure and suffered left-side paralysis.

911 was called and he was quickly rushed to the emergency room. After a CT scan, the doctors determined he had an AVM, arteriovenous malformation, on his brain, which had ruptured, bleeding into his skull. This is something he was likely born with and no one would know he had it until a CT scan was performed or it ruptured, like his did. He was transferred by ambulance to St. Luke’s downtown in Boise to the neurology department. Once there, it was determined that the bleeding was putting pressure on his brain, so they intubated him and drilled a small hole in his skull to relieve the pressure. Later Monday morning, they did a special CT scan with contrast to map out the AVM and develop a game plan for removing it and the hematoma that was growing with it. While the catheter was inserted, they put a type of glue into the AVM and sealed off 80% of the bleeding. It all went well.

That afternoon, the neurosurgeon performed a craniotomy to remove the AVM and hematoma and reported it went smoothly.

The doctors tried to wake him up during the night, but he started thrashing and his blood pressure and cranial pressure spiked, so they put him under again. The nurse that cares for him said he was really upset as he was being put under and so he woke up that way. But the rest of his numbers stayed within range and in the CT scan this morning, his brain looked a little more relaxed, so they are hopeful.

The aneurysm is in the part of his brain that controls motor skills, which is why he is paralyzed on his left side. The doctors are hoping that now with the pressure reduced, he will regain some movement, but until he wakes up, we have no way of knowing to what degree of paralysis he will have. They say he has youth on his side but will be in the hospital for weeks recovering and then will need months of physical therapy.

This still doesn’t feel real. I’m going to wake up from this nightmare. I scrunch my eyes shut, take a breath, and open them again…nope, still at the hospital.

Please, please, please keep Emerson in your prayers. I firmly believe in the power of prayer to bring heavenly blessings to us here on earth and Emerson needs as many blessings as he can get.