#TeamBoddi: A Journey of Hope, Healing, and Strength

On May 30th, 2025, our son Boddi was born at just 35 weeks after a sudden emergency C-section. What started as a routine non-stress test turned into a race against time—Courtney was having mild contractions she couldn’t even feel, and with each one, our baby’s heart rate dropped dangerously low. Within minutes, we were thrust into parenthood under circumstances we never could have imagined.

But Boddi wasn’t just early. He was born with a complex set of medical challenges affecting the entire left side of his face and airway. His lower left jaw was completely undeveloped, and his left ear severely malformed. There was no safe airway. He was immediately intubated and rushed to the NICU, where he’s remained since.

Just two days after birth, Boddi underwent a nine-hour surgery to correct a tracheoesophageal fistula—a life-threatening condition in which his trachea and esophagus were joined in the middle, and his esophagus ended in a blind pouch rather than connecting to his stomach. Surgeons separated the two pathways, repaired them, and placed a G-tube to help him safely eat and grow.

Not long after, scans revealed the left side of Boddi’s mandible—the lower jaw—was entirely missing. What was thought to be a “tucked jaw” was instead a rare and still undiagnosed craniofacial genetic condition that has baffled geneticists and has no known match on either side of our family.

As the weeks unfolded, we learned the ventilator tube that had been keeping Boddi alive couldn’t remain in place long-term. He underwent another major surgery for a tracheostomy—a more stable airway placed directly in his neck. This gave him the breath he needs to thrive while giving his body time to grow strong enough for future reconstructive surgeries.

Another complication surfaced soon after: the left branch of Boddi’s bronchus—the part of the airway that leads to his lung—has a soft, weakened wall. He requires gentle pressure from the ventilator to keep it open. This means he’ll continue to need ventilator support until this issue matures or resolves over time.

Amid all this, we also learned Boddi has significant hearing loss—he cannot hear sounds below 60 decibels. Without help, speech recognition and sound awareness would be severely impacted. In the near future, he’ll need bone-conductive hearing aids to support healthy development, language learning, and communication.

Each day in the NICU has been a mixture of fear and hope, of prayers answered and new challenges faced. We’ve spent long days and longer nights at his bedside, learning medical care we never thought we’d need to understand—trach changes, G-tube feeds, ventilator settings, and more. We’re preparing now for a transition to an inpatient rehab hospital where we’ll receive intensive training so we can eventually bring him home.

The road ahead is long and uncertain. Reconstructive surgeons, speech and feeding therapists, audiologists, pulmonologists, geneticists—the list grows, but so does our strength.

Through every obstacle, Boddi has shown us what resilience looks like. He is joy. He is courage. He is our miracle in motion.

We created this fundraiser because we know the costs won’t stop once we leave the hospital—medical equipment, hearing aids, travel, adaptive tools, and specialized therapies will all be part of his journey for years to come. Every dollar raised will go directly toward Boddi’s care and the resources needed to support his unique future, whether that be medical bills, medical equipment, food, gas, and time away from work for appointments with specialists, lodging while we're away, etc.

If you’ve read this far, thank you—for witnessing our story, for loving a little boy you may not yet know, and for helping us carry this weight with love.

We are stronger together.

We are #TeamBoddi.

And this is only the beginning.

Follow our journey on Instagram: The Parks Experiment