My name is Michelle Latimer, and I am raising funds to support Noah Ruiz and his family as he undergoes and recovers from a serious surgery that will take place on April 15, 2025.

Sycamore Middle School student, Noah Ruiz will be undergoing several spinal fusions tomorrow at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago for his scoliosis. Noah was born with a rare disease called AFM, which is acute flaccid myelitis. Due to the paralysis from AFM, he has lung disease and a diaphragm that doesn’t work so this is a very serious operation that will be performed by the best surgeons in the country. He is only 12 years old and is in 6th grade.

This young boy had cardiomyopathy in utero, had two heart attacks, and received a heart transplant at the age of two months old. At the age of 7, he became paralyzed and fought for his life and was successful and returned to school. He developed severe scoliosis on top of everything else, and this surgery will hopefully make life a little easier for him in the future.

He will be in the hospital for approximately 10 days and he will be undergoing therapy for about a year afterwards. They have four other children ranging in age from 1 to 16.

If you could support this family during this difficult time by saying a prayer, sending a card, bringing the family a meal, or donating to this Go Fund Me page, I believe it will relieve some stress and worry so they can concentrate on being by their son’s side during the surgery and recovery process. Noah is a fighter and he has conquered obstacles in the past. It won’t be easy, but he will fight through this as well. You can message me if you would like to prepare a meal and I can coordinate and give you their address.

Acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) is a rare but serious condition that affects the spinal cord. It can cause sudden weakness in the arms or legs, loss of muscle tone, and loss of reflexes. The condition mainly affects young children.

There is a documentary scheduled to come out this year about this rare disease. Keep your eye out for it. It’s called a Different Kind of Life. Afmfilm.com

Thanks for your consideration. Please share to spread the word.

UPDATE ON NOAH'S SURGERY FROM HIS MOM

Update- Noah's been in the bipap coming back from surgery. He needs extra help keeping his oxygen up. We've had a rough few nights with the pain and bipap, but last night was better. We were finally able to get him up and walking around pretty good today. Thank you to everyone for all the thoughts and prayers. Thank you for the donations

It means dad didn't have to rush home to work this week and we can keep our concentration on Noah's recovery. We are grateful for everyone's love and support throughout Noah's journey