My cousin Shawnesse & her husband Michael were expecting twins when they unexpectedly lost one before birth. As you can imagine, they didn’t take the news well, but she knew she had to stay strong for her other baby. She ended up giving birth to a healthy baby boy, named Brooks. Brooks is now 8 months old & had no issues up until last month when he started to develop a rash. Shawnesse took him to his pediatrician, to a dermatologist, as well as Children's. She requested they do a urine sample or blood panel as her instinct felt something more was going on, but they told her it wasn’t necessary & she was sent away with a different diagnosis each time. It wasn’t until last week when her son was acting with little to no emotion and became lethargic that someone finally took her seriously & admitted him. Unfortunately, once they decided to run tests, they realized it was definitely more than a rash, but a sign of something bigger going on. Baby Brooks is on a feeding tube, his skin hurts to touch, he’s having issues with his kidneys and liver, his hemoglobin levels were dropping, as well as losing blood. On top of having countless number of tests run on him, we're still left with no answers or diagnosis.

During all of this chaos, my cousin Shawnesse suddenly felt ill and was rushed to the hospital with a high heart rate, high blood pressure, and fever. They know that she has an infection, but as she was there running tests, her son Brooks was rushed to the ICU for some complications. So, as most mothers would, she left to go be with him. Michael and Shawnesse also have two other kids at home who they’ve been away from. Not only are they missing work, and still have to pay bills for their home, but will now have hospital bills for the baby and Shawnesse, which is pretty unimaginable, especially during the holidays. So first and foremost, I’m asking for prayers, good vibes, love, and support for this family who has already endured far more than they should, but I would also love to relieve some of the financial burden that they are going to face these next few months. Every little bit helps and is appreciated more than you know. ❤️