Hi, my name is Gina and I am a friend and coworker of Carly’s! Over the past 2+ years of knowing Carly, she has been nothing but a great friend, wonderful mother and awesome coworker. Our children and husbands have become friends, we have gone through a pregnancy together, and have spent countless hours at work supporting each other. Please read Carly and Jake’s story below and consider donating to Brantley’s long road ahead. Donations will help support their many travels to CHOP, bridge tolls, parking, medical expenses etc.

while we were back home in SC/NC visiting family last month, Brantley took a hard fall hitting his head on a concrete floor. after some routine imaging in the ER, we incidentally found a cyst like growth within his cervical spine & we were immediately transferred to Levines Children’s Hospital. we were admitted over night & Brantley had four MRIs under sedation. the neurosurgeon came to speak with us & diagnosed him with chiari malformation 1 with a large cervical syrinx (cerebrospinal fluid filled cyst) & began discussing brain surgery.

jake and I have dedicated endless hours of our own research (inducing countless mental and emotional breakdowns), we have traveled to NYC to see the top doctor for Chiari, and we have seen the CHOP chiari clinic/neurosurgery team in Philly as well. all to say, our sweet boy will be having a craniectomy, laminectomy & duraplasty decompression surgery on April 18th to relieve the pressure that’s currently being put on his brain & blocking the flow of cerebrospinal fluid, which is inadvertently causing this large cyst to form in his cervical spine.

with chiari, there is no cure….its a chronic illness & this may not be his one and only surgery (but i am begging for it to be). my mama heart breaks for my poor boy. if you have made this far in our story, please send your love, thoughts, prayers, vibes, or whatever you are into for our most special guy.

if you would like to send him a card or a little love note to cheer him up after surgery in April, please reach out for our address - if there is anything this little boy loves more than spiderman or hot wheels…it’s getting mail!

4/18/2025 Update

a GOOD friday update:

brantley rocked his brain surgery!!!! in and out of sleep right now with some pain, but he is doing GREAT!

the bravest dude i know. thank you for all the love & support