On Father’s Day 2017, 2-year-old Josiah was at his Texas home with his mom, dad, grandparents and extended family. As everyone enjoyed a warm and relaxing Sunday afternoon, an energetic Josiah was running around the house, excitedly sprinting from room to room as he was known to do. But in only a matter of seconds, he managed to slip out the back door undetected and make his way to the family pool.
“He must’ve somehow shut the door behind him because we had no clue he went outside,” Josiah’s mom, Sara Lopez, told us. “His grandma came inside my room because she didn’t hear him running back and forth anymore and asked, ‘Where’s Josiah?’”
Sara instinctively knew where to look. “The first thing that came to mind was the swimming pool because he was in there earlier that day. I ran out and when I looked down, I saw him at the bottom of the pool so I jumped in and grabbed him,” Sara recalls of the horrifying moment.
Unfortunately, they had forgotten to remove the ladder from the above-ground pool, allowing Josiah to easily climb in and accidentally submerge himself.
Josiah’s grandma called 911 while his father and uncle attempted to perform CPR under the guidance of the emergency operator.
Josiah sits comfortably in his new adaptive stroller with Holton the Elephant by his side.
Josiah’s brain was deprived of oxygen for an unknown amount of time, which caused global brain damage from the anoxic injury. After spending 45 days in the hospital, Josiah was discharged, but he now required a feeding tube as well as a tracheotomy tube to help him breathe.
“He was in a vegetative state at first, he wouldn’t do nothing,” Sara said of Josiah’s condition. “Then we started doing therapy, you know, and he started to regain his ability to move. He now moves his arms, he moves his head, stuff like that.”
Now, three years later, Sara reports notable progress in Josiah’s recovery, although he suffers from seizures that they struggle to get under control. His height and weight have doubled since his injury, showing signs of terrific nutrition, but unfortunately his family has not been able to afford an adaptive stroller for their growing boy. They tried to get insurance to cover the cost, but their insurance plan denied the request, despite the dangers presented by the undersized stroller and the medical necessity for simple transfer.
Sara took to Facebook to ask for advice, which caught the eye of Holton’s father and Holton’s Heroes founder, Eric Weingrad.
“After reading her post in a support group, we reached out to Sara to offer our foundation’s help,” Eric Weingrad recalls. “We were shocked to find that insurance was denying her child such a necessary piece of equipment. We’re unsure how they expect a non-ambulatory 5-year-old child with breathing tube and medical equipment to be transferred around safely.”
The order was placed and within a few weeks, Josiah received his new stroller from Holton’s Heroes, along with a new best friend, Holton the Elephant. Additionally, Holton’s Heroes sent Josiah’s family a $500 grant to help with groceries and bills during these extraordinary times.
We are so fortunate to be able to help kids just like Josiah all around the country receive expensive in-home devices and equipment, as that is our primary mission. Unfortunately, the year 2020 has delivered many undesired things to our country, one of them being the inability for nonprofits like ours to host typical fundraisers due to the spread of COVID-19, which has been financially devastating.
Luckily, many of you have hosted small, safely managed fundraisers in your own community. From lemonade stands (pictured below) to paper shredding events to online birthday fundraisers dedicated to Holton’s Heroes—so many of you have risen to the occasion and allowed us to continue to help these incredible survivors and their families.
We sincerely thank all of you who have spent time, energy, and resources raising awareness and funds for Holton’s Heroes this past year. At the same time, we humbly invite those of you looking to help to host a fundraiser in your own community, so you may help us continue to weather this crisis. For inquires, ideas, and tips, feel free to contact us here.
Most importantly, if you’d like to learn about CPR training and certification, please visit the American Red Cross Training Services. For families with pools, you can visit poolsafely.gov to get tips to help keep your home safe.
A pop-up water stand run by incredible kids in Longport, NJ helped raise $1,000 this past summer, which was used to purchase Josiah his new adaptive stroller. Pictured left to right: Sage Borksy, Noah Gabay, Philipe Gabay, Asher Gabay.
“I want Holton’s Heroes’ donors to know that their donations are appreciated, as it helps a lot of families that can’t afford items that get denied by insurance.”
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On Father’s Day in 2017, 2-year-old Josiah was running around his home, excitedly zooming from room-to-room , as he typically did. However, in a matter of seconds he managed to elope out of the back door undetected and make his way to the family pool. Read Josiah’s amazing tale of recovery now.