Our Story: LeRoy’s Fight for a Seizure-Free Life

Hi, we’re Elias and Lindsay Fauzey, and this is our son, LeRoy — a bright, sweet, funny little boy who has spent every day of his life fighting battles no child should ever have to face.

LeRoy’s fight began almost immediately. At just two days old, he suffered a grade IV brain bleed that severely damaged the right side of his brain. That one traumatic event shaped everything that came after it. From the start, LeRoy’s life has been filled with emergency rooms, NICU nights, therapies, medical equipment, and the constant fear of what each day might bring.

At six months old, our world changed again when LeRoy was diagnosed with infantile spasms — one of the most devastating seizure disorders in infants. These seizures don’t just interrupt a moment; they interrupt development. They take away skills he’s worked so hard to gain. They stop him from learning, playing, and growing the way every child deserves to.

We tried everything his doctors recommended:

Some treatments helped briefly. Others didn’t help at all. But the seizures always returned — stronger, more frequent, more controlling.

Now, at just 15 months old, LeRoy still experiences clusters of seizures every single day, even with multiple medications and the ketogenic diet. The seizures affect his breathing and muscle control so severely that he now requires 24/7 oxygen support just to stay safe.

As parents, watching your child fight like this — over and over, without a break — is something that breaks you in quiet ways every day.

But there is hope.

After months of evaluations, brain studies, and specialist consultations, LeRoy’s medical team has recommended a right hemispherectomy, one of the most complex pediatric brain surgeries performed today. This surgery removes or disconnects the damaged, seizure-producing side of his brain so the healthy side can finally take over. It’s terrifying, but it’s also the only real chance for LeRoy to grow up without seizures stealing every moment from him.

Unfortunately, this surgery isn’t performed in Buffalo. There is no pediatric neurosurgeon here who does it. The closest qualified team is over 7 hours away in New York City, meaning we have to temporarily relocate to give LeRoy the care he needs.

And that’s where things become overwhelming.

Even with insurance, the surrounding costs are enormous:

We will do anything for our son — that’s not in question — but we cannot shoulder every part of this financial burden alone.

So we’re reaching out to our community, our friends, our family, and the kindness of strangers.

We are asking for help so our little boy can have a future that seizures haven’t stolen from him.

Every donation, every share, every message of support brings us closer to getting LeRoy through this surgery, through recovery, and into the life he deserves — a life where he can laugh, learn, grow, and simply be a kid.

From the bottom of our hearts,

Thank you for supporting our family and standing with LeRoy.

UPDATE: We just wanted to take a moment to thank every single person who has donated, shared, or kept our son in their thoughts these past few days. The amount of love and support we’ve received already has honestly left us speechless.

LeRoy has been fighting since the day he was born, and knowing that so many people are standing with him right now gives our family strength on days that feel heavy. Every share, every prayer, every message — it truly means something to us.

A lot of people have been asking, “What’s the next step?”

Right now we are still waiting for the hospital to finalize LeRoy’s surgical date. Once we get that call, everything will move very quickly. We’ll have to prepare for a long stay, pack up medical equipment, get lodging lined up, and make sure our other children are taken care of while we’re away.

Until we have that official date, we can’t book Ronald McDonald House or travel plans yet — everything is basically paused until the surgery is scheduled. We’ll update again as soon as we hear from the surgical team.

For now, we just want to say thank you again. The support has taken a huge weight off our shoulders, and it means more than we can ever put into words. You’re helping give our boy the chance at a life not controlled by seizures, and as his parents, that is everything.

We’ll keep updating as we learn more.

Thank you for standing with LeRoy.