Help Paden Get His Vision Back

On December 31st, 2025, I took my 17-year-old son Paden to the emergency room. He had lost 35 pounds in ten days, was persistently vomiting, and something was terribly wrong. He was sent home with a diagnosis of viral syndrome and told to rest and drink fluids.

Three days later, on January 3rd, 2026, Paden was found unresponsive in our home. He was rushed to Oklahoma Children’s Hospital where doctors discovered over 20 brain abscesses, meningitis, and a severe polymicrobial bacterial infection — nine different organisms — that had been silently destroying his brain for weeks. The infection had reached his optic chiasm deep in his brain, stealing his vision.

Doctors gave him a 5% chance of survival. They told us to prepare for the worst.

What followed was nearly five months of fighting for his life — multiple brain surgeries, a spinal drain, a PICC line, months of IV antibiotics, a breakthrough seizure, and bilateral vision loss in both eyes. Paden woke up blind.

He spent months in the hospital and inpatient rehabilitation. He learned to walk again. He relearned how to do basic things. And through all of it — every painful day, every setback, every frightening moment — he never stopped believing he would get his vision back.

He still believes that today.

What makes Paden’s story remarkable isn’t just that he survived something that kills most people who get it. It’s that his brain is actively recovering. Just weeks ago, completely blind since January, he started seeing colored flashes of light — what he describes as fireflies. Green ones. Red ones. Yellow ones. Blue ones. His visual system is waking up.

There are real clinical trials that could help him recover his vision:

SCOTS2 — a stem cell trial using his own bone marrow stem cells injected near the optic nerve, with published human data showing meaningful vision recovery in patients with optic nerve damage. Cost: approximately $19,600 out of pocket, not covered by insurance.

ER-100 by Life Biosciences — an OSK gene therapy that just received FDA clearance for human trials in 2026, targeting optic nerve regeneration. This is cutting-edge science happening right now.

Paden is in his critical recovery window — the first 12-18 months after injury when the brain is most receptive to healing. That window is open right now. We cannot afford to let it close while waiting for funding.

We are raising money to:

• Fund Paden’s evaluation and treatment through the SCOTS2 stem cell trial

• Cover travel and accommodation costs for out-of-state specialist consultations at UCLA or Bascom Palmer Eye Institute

• Support ongoing supplements and therapies during his recovery window

Every dollar gets Paden closer to the treatment he deserves. He fought to survive. Now help him fight to see again.

Paden’s goal: get his vision back. Our goal: give him every possible chance to do it.

Please share this with everyone you know. Even if you can’t donate, sharing costs nothing and could change everything.

With gratitude,

Kisha — Paden’s mom