Last school year was a frustrating, chaotic, and a seemly impossible task. I took on the roll of being a virtual teacher, something I wasn't prepared for or trained how to do. So I started the year with 27 unknown little 6 and 7 year olds. Kids who probably didn't understand what was going on, or why they couldn't be in school with their friends.

 

Among those kids, was a little boy with a sweet voice and a thick country accent. With a love for nerf guns, tractors, and his little sister Mae, Jackson Ward, quickly became light of my day.

 

In 2014, he was diagnosed with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/heartdefects/hlhs.html) , a birth defect that effects the blood flow to his heart. He has had multiple surgeries and has battled through a hard life for a boy his age.

 

More recently, he has been hospitalized due to heart failure. His doctors have put in a Ventricular Assistive Device(VAD). More specifically, a Berlin Heart. An external device that will let doctors see his blood pump. This won't fix his heart, but will hopefully give him the time he needs to get a heart transplant.

 

Jackson is a ray of sunshine. He is smart, caring, hilarious, and generous with his love. He is strong, resilient, a never ending force of positivity. In his own words: "The rain makes the rainbows and the sun."

 

 

 

Through the hardest times of his life, he has been stronger than anyone I know, and has lived a shorter life than all of them. Each day, he wakes up and conquers the battles he faces. He has a devoted and caring mother, a strong and steady father, and a bright, full of life sister. He has the support of countless people, friends and family.

 

And now I am asking you to be another solider in his battle. His mother hasn't left his side through anything and his father is doing all that he can to be there for him when he doesn't have to be at work. But there will still be hospital bills that inevitably have to be paid. His parents need our help. They shouldn't have to worry about things like this when they are doing everything they can and need to for their family.

 

 

 

Help me help them ease a burden in the only way I know how.

 

To follow along with Jackson's triumphs you can find an up to date account on his mother's Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/jacksonhlhs/about/?ref=page_internal