Support Blaze's Fight Against Epilepsy

Hello my name is Chelsea Blackwell. I became a foster parent to Blaze in 2019. Blaze sustained a severe non accidental traumatic brain injury at 6 months old, requiring a permanent shunt in his brain, gtube, and tracheotomy. He sustained ischemic strokes as well as brain bleeding, causing him a multitude of lifelong disabilities- one being epilepsy.

Despite his medical complexities, myself and his father fell in love with him very quickly and decided to adopt. We understand this would come with challenges, but we are currently facing a very unknown future for Blaze.

Blaze’s epilepsy began progressing beginning last August, requiring multiple hospital stays, EEGs, and very frequent medication increases. His epilepsy began to progress rapidly beginning in December and is now refractory or “drug resistant.”

Blaze was admitted to the hospital to attempt an alternative treatment for his epilepsy (IVIG therapy), as he was no longer responding to any medications and having over a hundred seizures daily. While he was admitted he ended up with status epilepticus. We are currently waiting for transfer to Boston Children’s Hospital. We are hoping not to intubate him and that he can maintain his airway until we get him to a more advanced place with surgical options. He currently is stable but completely unresponsive.

We do not know how long we will be out of work at this time, or what the future might look like. All proceeds will be shared between both families supporting Blaze including travel and time off from work. Thank you for taking the time to read Blaze’s story and we appreciate your help.