Hope for Harrison

Christy, Harrison and Morgan Stotts

Every family has a story… some of those stories must be shared.  Families that have shared their journey with family, friends, community and even strangers… have impacted all those who heard or read about it.  We feel that the story of The Stotts family is one that should be shared and heard….

Many students, parents and teachers have come in contact with Christy Stotts.  She is the Attendance Clerk at Hays High School in Kyle Texas.  For the surrounding Buda and Kyle community…..she is one of the first faces that students and visitors meet when they enter Hays High School.  Her sweet smile, compassionate spirit and listening ears have encouraged all of those she comes in contact with.  Sadly, one amazing student that has not been able to see her at school for his entire Senior year, is her own son, Harrison Stotts. 


This is a picture of Harrison when this year long battle began over a year ago.

While most Seniors are enjoying their last year in high school with friends, football games, prom, eating late night pizza, and other memorable events during SENIOR year, a special time of life… Harrison has been bed ridden with pain associated with several rare diagnoses’ which include:  Sphincter of Odd:  Dysfunction; Esophagitis-Gastritis; Pancreatic Pseudocyst; Pancreas Atrophy; Biliary Dyskinesia.  Diagnosed……….but without a complete diagnosis of the underlying cause.

 As life goes on, seemingly normal to his class mates, he has been fighting this disease every day and every night since May, 2015.  He has been to doctor, after doctor…. In Emergency room after Emergency room… admitted into the hospital numerous times for weeks at a time – yet…. to return home with no answer to his pain – no answer to how he will be able to get back into life of being a Senior and experiencing all of the things that his peers are able to enjoy.

Harrison is confined to his bed for the majority of each day, unable to get up because of his pain and weakness.  He cannot eat solid food,  his nutrition comes through  a feeding tube in his nose.  He has had multiple surgeries and procedures with no success.  As if enduring these things is not hard enough… none of these have brought relief to his pain. His pain gets so severe that he must be admitted into the hospital to get pain meds that still barely touch the severity of it. While visiting him,  we have heard him reply to a doctor’s question of how bad his pain is on a scale from 1- 10.  His answer has been – “I’m ok, about an 8”  

As moms, we have gathered around this sweet family over the past months.  Our hearts are broken as we watch Harrison struggle with such pain – yet amazed as we see his spirit shine through.   A spirit of compassion, gentleness, love for his mom, respect for others and his ability to endure such monumental obstacles, a true testimony that adversity can make you stronger – if you choose to allow it to.  Christy and Harrison are real life examples of this life truth.  We may not all agree on ‘why’ things happen, but we CAN all agree that ‘what’ happens in our lives can make or break us, we have that choice.

Christy and Harrison have chosen ‘LIFE’.  We want to share their story so those that know them can come around and support them during this season, and those that don’t know them, can be encouraged and have opportunity to do good if it is within their ability.   Support can come in many ways… Prayer, meals, cards of encouragement, visits, and financial….  Christy is a single mom, having to miss a great deal of work to be with her son.  As anyone can imagine, the emotional stress alone - from seeing your child in constant pain is enough to make her want to quit.   But Christy has not quit – she has not given up!   Christy has shown grace and mercy to all of us who have come alongside her to fight this battle for Harrison’s health.

Christy did not ask for her story to be shared, we asked her if we could share it.  We took on the task of writing words on a page to somehow convey the depth of despair that can come so easily in these seasons of suffering. 

We feel that it is time to share this family’s journey and open up the opportunity for family, friends, community and strangers to come alongside them and pledge to never give up until we see them through to Harrison being well.

Harrison is special.  He has endured more pain, suffering and disappointment than most of us will in our entire life time.  He has been an encourager to us – we have grown to love him and Christy as we have watched them these past months. 

As we were writing this, we felt that Harrison should be able to share a bit about his story – in his own words…. So here are “HIS” words that he wrote from his hospital bed this past week:

“This journey I’ve had over these past 10 years has been one of the toughest trials I’ve faced.  It first struck when I was eight years old.  I was always outside and never indoors.  My gallbladder malfunctioned and I’ve had problems ever since, now affecting my pancreas.  I had two breaks from pain with a couple of good years in between.  This last attack hit me the hardest.  I never expected to be stuck in bed for my whole senior year.  I never got to attend homecoming, won’t be able to go to prom and biggest of all, I might not be able to graduate with my friends.  This whole thing has turned my life upside down and twisted it in ten ways.  I only get to see a few friends, if that every month.  Right now, the only human interaction I have other than my amazing, supportive, and determined parents and sister who help me keep my head above the water is with the amazing nurses at Dell Children’s Hospital.  They help make me smile every time I have to come to the hospital (which is at least monthly).  There are also a group of moms that have done more for my mom and I than anyone else, they are truly a bright spot in my life.  The pain in my situation is hard enough for me to handle because it’s so severe and keeps me bed ridden and never gives me a break.  Through all of this, I look to God and know He has a plan for this trial in my life and I know there is a cause, a lesson to learn, that in the future will help me help others.  Knowing this….. is what helps me keep going each day to put a smile on my face for the people around me.”


Harrison and his friend Clayton Cathey

Currently, insurance has denied moving Harrison to Boston, a teaching hospital that the doctors feel can give him better care.   But thankfully, his Insurance just approved moving him to to Texas Childrens Hospital to work with a more specialized group of Doctors. who have more experience with his illness. This is still in the works, so prayers would be appreciated. We are all hoping and praying this will give him some much needed relief from the pain and insight on how to best treat his condition.

Please share their story…. Even if you just read it and pass it on, this small act of kindness will bring encouragement to them.  If you want to help in physical ways – such as visits, meals or finances….

If you would like to help financially, this GoFundMe page has been set up to help with the massive medical and living expenses incurred over the past year. 

Life is made up of moments… some good; some bad… we all experience both.  Please take this opportunity to share with this family during these ‘bad’ days, encouraging them that the good ones will return soon.  We have no doubt that your life will be impacted by becoming a part of Christy and Harrison’s journey. 

We close with a prayer that Harrison prayed with one evening with his mom:

     “God, I know that you can teach me a lesson through this, please open my eyes to see that lesson and let me learn and use it for the future to help others.  Please help me to grow and become even a speck of the man that Jesus was. “