Jayse's Journey

On February 12 th my sister Nicole went into cardiac arrest while 8 months pregnant. Her and her unborn baby were without oxygen for 16-20 minutes. Six hours later her son Jayse Nicholas was born via c-section. Jayse was born with HIE, hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy. That is brain damage caused by a lack of oxygen. We were told that the damage was global and he would never walk or talk or be aware of his surroundings. The doctors said that he would be blind and he failed his first hearing test and was probably deaf. Jayse is a miracle and due to the hard work and perseverance of his family and therapists and Jayse himself, he is making so much progress. And by the grace of God he is not blind or deaf. Jayse is being raised by my cousin Kari and her husband Bill. They take amazing care of him. Bill works so hard to provide the things that his family needs. Kari stays home to raise Jayse. Unfortunately the one income and Jayse's $491 a month disability is not enough to pay for some of the tools he needs for OT, PT, and Speech therapies. Jayse has a mic-key and eats thru a feeding tube. Our goal is to help him learn to eat orally. He also has a trache, and the goal there is to build his core strength so that he will someday not need it. The equipment needed to help Jayse thrive is very costly. Although Bill and Kari have health insurance, it won't pay for everything. Please help me help my cousin. Her and Bill have selflessly taken on the role of mom and dad and try so hard to provide everything but it's just not enough. Thank you.