Team Cooper (Whitney and Nate Batt)

A few weeks ago, Whitney and her husband, Nate, received devastating news that their 1-year-old son, Cooper, was diagnosed with Dravet syndrome.  Dravet syndrome is a rare, catastrophic, lifelong form of epilepsy that begins in the first year of life with frequent and/or prolonged seizures that are often triggered by hot temperatures and fever.  Previously known as Severe Myoclonic Epilepsy of Infancy (SMEI), it affects about 1 in 16,000 individuals. Children with Dravet syndrome typically experience a lagged development of language and motor skills, hyperactivity and sleep difficulties, chronic infection, growth and balance issues, and difficulty relating to others. The effects of this disorder do not diminish over time, and children diagnosed with Dravet syndrome require fully committed caretakers with tremendous patience and the ability to closely monitor them. The seizures experienced by people with Dravet syndrome become worse with age and these seizures are often resistant to drugs, so it is very challenging to develop treatments.

Whitney and Nate have already been through so much, but they have a long road ahead.  In addition to dealing with Cooper's recent diagnosis, they are getting ready to welcome their second son in January.  They are very fortunate to have a strong faith, which they are relying on to get them through most of this, but let’s rally together and try to help them with the financial obstacles that are coming their way.  Between medications, doctors visits, full time care for Cooper, etc they are facing a lot.   Please consider making a donation to help this beautiful family, to help ease the financial burden and let them focus on loving Cooper, their new son and each other!