Dear friends of mine and beloved members of our community, Annsley Salter and Bailey Watts from Burnt Corn, AL, joyously welcomed their first child, Douglas “Ridge” Watts, into the world on August 11th, 2025 in Mobile, Alabama. Shortly after Ridge’s arrival, he started developing blisters all over his body. He was immediately transferred from the PICU at Mobile Infirmary to UAB via Air Ambulance, where he was diagnosed with Junctional Epidermolysis bullosa (JEB). JEB is a rare genetic condition with an estimated incidence of 1 in 500,000 births worldwide. Babies born with JEB are often called “Butterfly Babies” because their skin is as fragile and delicate as butterfly wings. This is precisely how Ridge’s skin can be characterized.

JEB in Ridge’s case is caused by missing Pleck and Laminin-332 proteins that help anchor his layers of skin together. Without these missing proteins, the skin layers do not hold together as they should. Any friction, rubbing, heat, and everyday tasks such as bathing, dressing, and diaper changing cause widespread blisters, tears, and open wounds across Ridge’s body. These wounds are slow-healing and require extensive, 24/7 care, including wound inspection, draining new blisters, cleansing the skin, taking pool-salt vinegar baths, applying ointments, and wrapping affected areas with specialized bandages to prevent infection and further injury. This routine can take hours each day.

Annsley, Ridge’s mama, is the Steel Magnolia who is behind the delicate, around-the-clock care and has gracefully stepped into her new role as Ridge’s full-time caregiver. Currently, Ridge is actively seeing four different specialists at UAB in Birmingham, Alabama, in addition to his pediatrician: Dermatology, ENT, GI, and Speech Pathology. Each visit to UAB is a six-hour round trip. As one could imagine, this has created an unplanned financial hardship.

We are asking for donations to help this family. Jesus said that the second most important command in the universe is to love our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:28-34 ). And my neighbor, Jesus also said, is whoever crosses my path with a need I can do something about (Luke 10:25-37 ). No gift is too small. These donations will be used for travel to and from doctors’ visits, living arrangements during out-of-town stays, medical bills, medical supplies, and other necessities. Ridge has a family with Earth-Shaking Faith, who believe God will always provide a way. The Salter and Watts families are thankful for their community, which shows up in big and small ways, for every prayer said, and for each donation made.

Melody Lane

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